Drawn Together
by Wreckless Righter
Summary: Part I. The relationship between ruthless, snarky Sawyer and secretive, unsure Kate grows beyond its limits when it's put through one obstacle after the other. As if being stranded on an island weren't enough... :: COMPLETE! Check out the sequel, "Like a Boomerang". ::
1. Chapter 1

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Whatever the Case May Be"  
STATUS: Chapter one of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilige is entirely ABC's. (dangit! jk.)

**Chapter 1**

He was sitting on the beach alone, in the heat, under the shade of the tree, which he deemed his own. He stretched out his legs, careful not to disturb his wound, and picked a book from the pile of belongings he hoarded. As he began to flip through the pages, he saw movement nearby. _Ah, Freckles strikes again_, he thought to himself.

"Sitting all alone on the long wide beach can be mighty tiresome," he called out to her, smirking.

She turned around; her bright eyes focused on him. He could see the corners of her mouth turning up slightly, and decided to give it another shot.

"Sure you don't wanna keep me company, Freckles? I won't bite," he beamed his most irresistible smile as possible.

"I don't think so."

"Aw come on. I'll let ya feed me grapes and you can fan me with these big leaves here, " he gestured upward.

"I'll have to pass that one up," she laughed.

"Ya sure? It's a once in a life time chance."

She shook her head again and started walking again. He watched her walk off, until she disappeared from his sight. _Damn_, he thought. _Probably goin' off to see her precious Doc._ Awhile after, he tried hard as he could to get into the book he had picked up, but it just didn't suit him. He tossed it aside with everything else and reached into his pocket. He pulled out the note that hadn't left his sight since he was young. As he read it silently, he could hear Freckles' voice reading it aloud:

_Dear Mr. Sawyer, _

_You don't know who I am but I know who you are and I know what you've done. You had sex with my mother and then you stole my dad's money all away. So he got angry and he killed my mother and then he killed himself too. All I know is your name, but one of these days I'm going to find you and give you this letter so you'll remember what you done to me. You killed my parents, Mr. Sawyer._

He remembered her lips curving evenly as she read each word and the expression on her face when she ended it. Why had he let her read it in the first place? Because he could trust her? Well…maybe. He still didn't know whether she would, or already had, told Doc. Boy he wondered what Doc would think if he had seen that kiss… His mind then drifted to the kiss itself…

_Now how's about that kiss?_

_Are you serious?_

_Baby, I'm tied to a tree in a jungle of mystery. Of course I'm serious. _

Quick peck on the lips? He snorted at the thought. He had gotten just a bit more than that. Still rather shocked by her audacity, he was quite satisfied at the turnout. He could still remember her soft wet lips gently brushing against his. At first, she was shy, but then she threw herself into it, even letting her tongue slide into his. He smiled at the thought. There could be hope yet…

He crumpled the letter back into his pocket and sighed. At that very moment, his recent talk with Sayid triggered into mind. That goddamned dirty bastard…he thought. What did he mean, 'We're not alone'? Who in their right mind would want to live on this godforsaken spit of land? He threw the thought aside and went back to basking in the sun…well…shade, to await Freckles' next visit, which shouldn't be too long from now.

"There's gotta be somethin' else she'll need fer her Doc.." he moaned as he closed his eyes. A cool breeze blew by, tousling his sandy blonde hair…


	2. Chapter 2

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Whatever the Case May Be"  
STATUS: Chapter two of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilige is entirely ABC's. (dangit! jk.)

**Chapter 2**

"What're you doing?"

Sawyer sighed, his eyes still closed. Just as he was drifting into a deep sleep. It figured, though.

"Well I was sleepin'. Why?" He opened his eyes, grinning up at a glaring Kate. "Feel like joining me, Freckles?"

"Cute."

He closed his eyes again still grinning.

"But I meant what are you doing here instead of helping out?"

"You know, Freckles, I could ask the same for you," he pointed out with a smirk and opened his eyes again. "You could be over there helping Doc or Ali or someone, but instead, here you are talkin' to me."

She didn't respond, but he saw the corners of her mouth turn slightly upward. "I've been helping everyone out. But you've been sitting here doing absolutely nothing."

"I'm doin' somethin'." He closed his eyes once again, failing to remove the smirk from his face.

"What? Protecting your hoard?"

He laughed again then started shaking his head. "If they wanted my help they'd have asked."

She sat next to him, arms still folded. "And what is it you think I'm doing?"

"They sent you over to ask for my help?"

She paused and looked at him for a moment. Then she looked down.

"I didn't think so," he said firmly. He finally gave up falling back to sleep and sat up. He grabbed a bottle of water from his pile and started to open it. "So what really brings you over here then? Surely it can't be just to grace me with your presence, now is it?"

He took a few sips of the water before closing it. Kate was about to answer the question after a brief pause, when another inconvenience was thrown Sawyer's way, yet again.

"Sawyer," Jack nodded.

"Well gee, Doc. Couldja be any nicer with that greeting?"

Shaking his head, and wiping a drip of sweat from his head, he responded, "No. Probably not."

Sawyer glared up at him, while Jack stared right back down at him. Kate saw both and decided to quickly intervene before anything regrettable could happen.

"Jack?"

"We could use a bit more help, Kate."

"But I thought you said to take a break.." 

Sawyer dimpled at that response. It was nice to know she was reluctant to go, and that taking a break meant spending it with him. 

"Well, we could really use you again. I promise I'll make it up to you somehow."

_Hey now! _Sawyer thought angrily. _Hands off, Doc! Let'er stay with me! _

"Please?"

In response, Kate got up, dusting off her jeans. She looked back to Sawyer, who was now settling back into his chair again and looking away, as if hurt. She rolled her eyes and followed Jack. Sawyer watched them go and leaned forward again.

"Yeah, don't worry 'bout me!" Sawyer called out, after them.

"We won't!" Kate called back with a grin…


	3. Chapter 3

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter three of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilige is entirely ABC's. (dangit! jk.)

**Chapter 3 **

_"Get under the bed. Let's go. Listen to mommy, this is really important. Get under the bed, don't make a sound, don'te come out, no matter what happens. Don't come out, okay?"___

_"Okay."___

_"I love you."___

_"I love you too, mommy."___

_"Let's go. Down you go."___

__

_"OPEN THIS DOOR!"___

_"Stop it! Please stop it! Go away! STOP IT! What the hell is wrong with you? I'm calling the police, get out of here! What're you doing? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH A GUN! GET OUT OF HERE!" ___

_A loud gun shot sounds the house. And then - _

Sawyer sits upright, pointing a gun at someone, breathing hard. He can't make out who is in front of him. Everything seems to be blurred. He blinks a few times and finally sees who it is.

"GODDAMNIT KATE!"

"I'm sorry. I was just - "

He leaned back again and tucked the gun into the back of his jeans pocket.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm FINE!" he says in a cold, firm voice.

"Sawyer, you're shaking and covered in sweat."

He looks down at his trembling arms and, indeed, sees them covered in sweat. He hears himself still panting, and tries to stop shaking, but its uncontrollable.

"Maybe I should get Jack."

"I said I'm fine!" he roared.

"No you're not! Look at yourself Sawyer!" She pauses as she sees he's clutching his letter for dear life. "You were dreaming weren't you? About your parents?"

He glares at her long and hard. How could someone so sexy and so desirable be so damn annoying? _The female kind, _he told himself.

"What'chu gotta be meddlin' in my business for anyhow, Freckles? It don't concern you!" he said, failing to remove his almost evil glare from his face. He could tell she looked hurt by that. She got up suddenly, still looking directly at him. 

"Forget it."

He watched her as she walked away and instantly wished he hadn't been so harsh. Despite what he said, he had **wanted** it to concern her. Angered with himself, he shoved the letter back into his pocket.

"DAMNIT!" he kicked at the sand angrily.

Running a hand threw his hair, he heaved a sigh. Why did he always seem to screw things up? Could there be just one time where he didn't have to go yelling at her? Well it wasn't really his fault for yelling at her. The girl was annoying and never shut up. But he still wanted her, bad.

Later, he decided to go find her again. He felt bad about earlier, and he wanted to...apologize? No. He wanted to...Whatever. He'd just find her and go from there.   
He wandered around in the edge of the jungle, hoping maybe she'd be picking berries or seeds again. Just then, he heard something rustling. _Either a damn boar, or the goddamned monster, _he thought. With this, he drew the gun out from his pocket and held it firmly in front of him, his finger on the trigger, ready. The rustling grew louder and nearer, but Sawyer dared not move.  
Charlie stumbled out from the leaves and saw Sawyer ready to shoot him. 

"Hey! Watch where you're pointing that, mate!"

"What the hell are you doin' out here?"

"Oh. Me? I'm just uh - Just taking a walk. What about you? And what's with the bloody gun!"

"I thought you were the damn monster!" 

"Well a gun won't do you any good! Lower it!" Charlie cried a bit frantically.

"Relax, I ain't gonna shoot you," he said, lowering the gun. "Hey, have you seen Kate?"

"Yeah. I jus' saw her looking for Jack." 

_Damn,_ he thought. He wiped his head with his wrist, for his hand still held the gun. "All right."

"Be careful with that thing, mate."

"Yeah, yeah," he started walking again.

Charlie watched him walking away, before turning to go find Claire, himself. "Ponce..." he muttered to himself.


	4. Chapter 4

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter four of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilige is entirely ABC's. (dangit! jk.)

**Chapter 4**

Sawyer pushed his way through the numerous weeds and overgrowth. He grew increasingly frustrated. Panting, he had still seen no sight of Kate, nor found any tracks of her. Not that he _could_ track her, and that was well determined with his failure in tracking his boar.  
He didn't realize he had gone so far into the jungle until he realized he had no clue where he was. He stopped for a few minutes and leaned his arm on a tree, running a sweaty hand through his already soaked hair. Still catching his breath, he quieted suddenly, feeling sure he was not alone. He couldn't explain it, but he felt that someone was there.  
He turned around and glanced around him. Nothing was moving, and he didn't see anything. Despite what he could see, or rather couldn't see, he reached in his back pocket and grabbed for the gun again.

"Put it away, Sawyer," Kate said, appearing behind him.

He jumped, then felt a flood of relief that it was her voice. He pulled his hand away from the gun and stared at her, feeling slightly amused.

"Following me now, Freckles?"

"Well as you said, it's not safe to be alone," she said, unable to resist smiling as she mocked him.

"Oh hardy har har." 

"So what were you looking for me for?"

"What makes you think I was lookin' for you, princess?"

"I heard you talking with Charlie."

"So we're an eavesdropper now, are we, Freckles?" he said, playfully.

"I'm not an eavesdropper!"

She saw he was grinning at her, amused at how defensive she became. She didn't buy into the bait and decided to try again.

"Okay, so what were you looking for me for?"

His face grew serious and she knew she'd got him. _This oughta be good, _she thought to herself. She folded her arms as she awaited an answer, and he just stared at her.

"Nothin'," he said looking away. He started walking again.

"Sawyer," she followed him.

"What?" he stopped and turned to face her. "I said it was nothin'!"

"You've been out here almost all day, it's got to be something."

"Yeah, well, I forgot," he started walking again.

"I highly doubt that," she said, still standing in the same spot.

"You know, what is it with you, Freckles?" He turned to her again. "All day long with you! Don't you ever shut up?"

She looked at him, hurt, her eyes full of lost hope. She looked down, blinking several times. Instantly Sawyer knew he shouldn't have said that. He may have been thinking it, but he knew he shouldn't have said it. And now it'd cost him again. When she looked up again, he could tell she wanted to cry but was impressed with her ability to hold back.

"Kate, I - "

"Well I'd hate to break it to you, Sawyer, but I am a girl. And talking is what we do," she retorted.

"Ain't THAT the truth.." he muttered.

She was a clever one, he decided. But he still knew that she was only covering up her hurt feelings.

"Excuse me?"

"What?"

"You just agreed with me, didn't you?"

"I did not!"

"Yes, you did!"

"Fine. I did agree with you! Girls DO talk a lot! Just didn't 'spect you to be one of 'em."

She laughed, and he saw the hurt in her eyes go away and they brightened up. They were eyes he could look into forever. He knew if he stayed any longer, he would be snared into the trap of her eyes. And that was something he really should avoid. But something prevented him from moving. He couldn't leave.

"What, I'm not allowed to say how I feel?"

"Okay, but wasn't that just a bit harsh?" she folded her arms, but by the grin she beared, he knew she was joking around.

"Sweetheart, harsh to me and you are two completely different things."

"Well you don't have to tell ME that."

"Can I go now?" 

"I never said you had to stay," she shrugged, cautiously taking s few steps toward him.

He didn't know how to answer that, because she was right.

"And yet you're still standing right here in front of me..." she raised her eyebrows, and poked his chest with her index finger.

What he did next, took her by complete surprise...


	5. Chapter 5

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter five of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (dangit! jk.)

She was so close to him now, he could hear her heartbeat and felt her breath on his neck. He wanted her bad, and he was just inches away from her. Just inches away from her lips… He leaned closer, and she did too. They were centimeters away from a kiss, but then immediately he shoved her away and she fell to the ground. She leaned up on her arm and stared at him bewildered.

"Sawyer!"

He ran toward her and pushed her down again and into some bushes, unintentionally falling on top of her. She was about to say something but he covered her mouth. His face was serious and stolid as he seemed to be listening for something. She had no idea what was going on, but at this moment, she felt frightened, and yet oddly turned on. He was holding her down, and lying right next to her. She fought the urge to just kiss him right there. Then she heard it.

The sound of something enormous coming toward them, the trees were moving now. He put a finger to his lips as he looked at her. She nodded in agreement and he removed his hand from her mouth. She didn't dare move away from him as he still held her. As the "monster" got closer, she leaned into Sawyer. He didn't look at her, or seem to be bothered by it. She felt his heart beating rapidly along with her own.

The area grew quiet and for a moment, they thought it was gone. Then they heard it again and both jumped. It seemed to be heading in a different direction now, and they knew it was safe. Sawyer now remembered he was holding onto her and immediately let her go. He got up and grabbed her arm, helping her up.

"What the hell was that!" she scowled up at him.

He stared at her in astonishment. "I just saved your life, sweetheart! I'd think you'd be grateful!"

"Well you didn't have to throw me to the ground," she protested. "You could have just let me know."

"Well now I know for next time," he picked up the gun, which had fallen on the ground when he fell on her.

"Maybe we should just head back."

"Good idea."

So they walked on in silence, not really knowing what to say to each other. They were about to kiss, then the monster came. Sawyer had been on top of her briefly, then she cozied up into him out of fright. It was one heck of a turnout but neither of them meant for any of it to happen. _Why doesn't this look familiar_, Kate wondered.

"Do you even know where we're going anymore?" she asked.

"'Course I do. You tellin' me you don't recognize this area?"

"Not really."

He looked around at the unfamiliarity around him. He didn't want her to know that he really DIDN'T know where they were. Besides that, he didn't want to go back. Then they'd have to part their separate ways and pretend none of it happened. He started to wonder what Doc would be thinking right now, what with Kate wandering around with HIM. He laughed out loud, forgetting Kate was right beside him.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothin'. Just thinking."

"About what?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," he smirked.

"Pervert."

He chuckled, and then they quieted again. After awhile more, they still saw no beach or caves in the distance. Growing wild with anticipation to get back to safety, Kate let out an annoyed sigh.

"Okay, it's obvious you don't know where you're going."

"What – " he started.

"And it's getting pretty dark out."

"Aw, you getting' scared, Freckles?"

She looked up at him, rolling her eyes.

"'Cause if you are," he grinned as he got nearer. "I'm always here to protect ya," he put his arm around her.

She shook it off, taken aback by his sudden physical contact wit her. Despite her craving for him, she had no intentions of letting him know that.

"Thanks, but I can take care of myself."

"If that were true, then we wouldn't be stuck out here, would we?"

"What's that supposed to mean!"

"Well you're supposed to be an expert tracker, ain't ya?" He sat on a boulder that appeared before him.

"I'm not an expert, Sawyer. Just because I know a thing or two – "

"Even still! You coulda tracked our way outta here. Followed the Doc's smell or something."

"Stop being so jealous of him," she sat on another boulder too.

"Jealous! You got me all wrong, Freckles. I ain't the jealous type."

"No. You're the type who likes to snare women into bed by being a pervert, right?" she smiled at him, amusingly.

"All right, you know what?" he got up. "I'm just gonna leave you by yourself now."

She laughed. "That's okay. As you said, I can just follow Jack's scent," she teased.

"You enjoyin' yourself?"

"Yes."

He sat down again, and just shook his head at her. She laughed at this, and took her backpack off, gathering that they were resting or making camp.

"Well I gotta hunch we ain't gonna be getting' back to camp anytime soon."

"I figured. So we make camp here then?"

"I guess so. I'll get some fire wood. Or in this case, _bamboo_," he said with emphasis on the "bamboo".

"I'll see what food I can find around here."

So they went their ways, Kate neglecting to take her backpack. Sawyer knew this was an obvious ploy so that he knew she'd come back. He smiled. The girl was clever, he gave her that. He found a few long stick of bamboo and to his luck, an axe stuck in one of them. _Aw hell, _he thought and picked up the axe.

About 45 minutes later, Kate returned to the camp area with plenty of berries and fruits she found. She placed them by her backpack and noticed Sawyer wasn't around. Putting her hands on her hips, she thought _He better not have left me here or I'll kill him…_ She heard a loud banging in the distance, and carefully followed it. When she found the source, she was relieved and amused at what she saw.

"Never would've taken you as a wood-cutting type of guy," she strolled through the bushes and into his sight.

There was Sawyer, shirtless and shining in sweat, holding a hand-axe. He was so damn sexy at that moment, she resisted the desire to jump into his arms and waste the night away spending him. She bit her lip and tried to rid herself of the thought. _Cold showers….Very cold showers…_ she kept repeating in her head.

"Learn somethin' new everyday," he responded.

He went back to chopping up the bamboo. With one swift WHACK, the stick flew to pieces. Her eyes widened with intrigue and appeal. He repeated the movement at least four more times before she interrupted it.

"So where'd you get the axe?"

"Found it. Stuck in one of these sticks."

"I wonder if we're near to camp then…"

He looked away, wiping sweat from his face. She could clearly see he didn't want it to be camp just as much as she didn't. He shrugged it off and continued cutting. She sat on a tree stump, still watching him.

"So where's a guy like you learn to cut like that?"

"My uncle. When I lived with him, he had me go and cut the wood every fall - " he paused to whack the hell out of the bamboo. "- so that we had it for the fireplace in the winter."

"Oh."

She saw the pain in his eyes as he told her about it. She knew why he had lived with his uncle and it filled her with compassion. She didn't want to start up anything about that, so she decided to get rid of the thoughts and try something else. She got up and wandered over by him. He stopped chopping and looked over his shoulder right at her.

"Somethin' I can help ya with, Freckles?"

She laughed at how uncomfortable he got. "Yeah. I wanna learn how to chop bamboo."

He looked at her in disbelief. "What in hell is wrong with you?"

"Well you never know. It could become a useful skill in the future."

He snorted. "I hate to think of what you'd use the skill for."

She glared at him, understanding what he meant. He backed off and agreed to show her the proper way to chop _bamboo_. He positioned her right in front of it, and was working on helping her to get her arms in the right angle, when she accidentally stumbled backwards. She was laughing hysterically, as he caught her in his arms. He laughed too, but not as hard as she.

"You are one deranged gal, Freckles."

"I'm sorry!" she laughed. As she finally began to calm down, she said, "Okay. Let's try that again."

"Yeah, and this time, maybe you can stay up."

So again, he positioned her right in front of the bamboo. He was behind her now positioning her arms in the right angles to hit it just right. He finally moved away, and let her take a swing and chop it. She undoubtedly missed, and they started right at the beginning. This time, as he was behind her positioning her arms again, she looked up at him, and their eyes locked. For a full minute they stood there, just staring into each other's eyes.

"Um, I think we have enough, um, bamboo," she whispered, shaking.

"Uh, yeah. I think so too," he murmured back.

She dropped the axe to the ground and looked at it. Sawyer failed to let go of her elbows and stared at it too.


	6. Chapter 6

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter six of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (dangit! jk.)

Quickies  
Thanks for the reviews! And, No, there's no blood on the axe.  
They were just avoiding eye contact. :) They both just don't want  
to reveal how they feel about each other…………yet…  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter 6**

Eventually, they parted and Sawyer had made a fire with the lighter he had in his pocket. Kate scarcely picked at the fruits she had found. He ate none at all and just stared into the fire. It was hours later after the bamboo scene that they finally started to talk to each other again.

"So…remember that waterfall we found a few days ago?"

"The one with the dead bodies?"

She closed her eyes for a moment, and opened them again. "Yeah."

"What about it?"

"Well…I found it again – when I was looking for fruit..."

"That so?"

"Yeah. And that means that we can find our way back from there."

She looked at him and noticed he wasn't paying attention anymore. Instead, he pulled a small bottle from his pocket. Kate looked at it, familiarly.

"I can't believe you brought that," she said in disbelief.

"I always carry at least one with me," he smirked.

She paused for a moment, considering, but then gave in. "Got any more of those?"

"In exchange for what?" he asked slyly.

She folded her arms. "What happened to carte blanche?"

He looked at her, as if trapped. He sighed and pulled another bottle out, and tossed it to her. She caught it expertly and took a sip. It grew quiet again as they drank and avoided eye contact with one another. Sawyer snapped out of his trance, startled by the sudden sound of her voice.

"Think they're worried about us?"

"Who?"

"_Who? _Everyone!"

"You mean Doc," he said knowingly.

Kate opened her mouth to say something, but as he grinned at her, she realized he was right and closed her mouth again. He snickered triumphantly.

"Tell ya the truth, he's probably worried sick 'bout _you_," he drank again. "He couldn't care less 'bout me."

"Don't say that."

"Well it's the truth."

She didn't reply because again, he was right. Jack probably was more worried about her than Sawyer. He –

"Probably worryin' you're out here with ME," he snickered, interrupting her thoughts.

"Jack's a good guy, Sawyer," she insisted.

"Yeah and I guess him getting' Sayid to torture the hell outta me was just his way of bein' friendly?" he glared at the fire, disliking Kate's sudden defense for Jack.

"Okay so that wasn't the best idea he could've come up with, but he saved your life, didn't he?"

"Know what, Freckles? I think I'm just gonna hit the sack," he got up.

"Well…where are you going?"

He started walking away. "Over…….there…" he said gloomily.

She watched him disappear through weeds and thicket. She felt somewhat compassionate for making him feel back. She knew he and Jack weren't the best of friends, but she had no idea why she went into sudden defensive mode for him. She sighed, and put out the fire, and lied down a few feet away from it. She hoped tomorrow would be a better day, but then she realized they would probably find their way back tomorrow. She fell into a fitful sleep.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In the morning, Sawyer returned to the area where he left Kate last night, only to find Kate was not there. He felt sudden anger at himself for leaving her, and instantly thought she had left him in the night. Then he saw her backpack was still there, and his heart calmed down.

"Where the hell did you go now, Freckles?"

He observed that her white over shirt was lying right next to her backpack. Then it hit him. The waterfall. He reminisced the day they found it as he searched for it. It only took him a few minutes to find it. He didn't see Kate at first, but then he saw legs dangling in the water and saw her sitting on the edge of the base of the cliff. She was running water through her hair with her hands. Her jeans lay next to her, as well as her purple tank top. There she was, sitting in just her bra and underwear.

"Lookin' good, Freckles!" he called out to her, grinning, as usual. He walked over by her and was only feet away.

Startled, she grabbed her shirt and covered her chest. "How long have you been there?"

"Not nearly long enough."

"Is there ever a time that something horrible _doesn't _come out of your mouth?"

"I'll hafta get back to ya on that one."

"I'll be waiting," she replied, putting her shirt back on.

He sat next to her and took his boots off, letting his own feet dangle in the water. He wanted to ask if she wanted to go for a swim, but then he remembered the bodies at the bottom. _There goes that thought, _he thought to himself. On the contrary, she surprised him.

"So," she kicked her feet up letting the water drip from them, then dipped them back in the water. "Feel like a swim?"

"With them dead bodies? No sir."

"They're dead bodies, Sawyer. It's not like they'll swim up and eat us."

"Well you never know," he joked.

"Fine." She stood up and jumped in, all the way under. When she came up, she was smiling at him.

"Oh now you're just temptin' me," he pretended to be annoyed.

"Just come in!" she pleaded.

"No way."

"Don't make me force you, Sawyer."

"I'd like to see just how you'd manage that."

She swam under and he lost sight of her for a few minutes. He felt a slight twinge of worry in him, thinking she was trying to drown herself to get him to come in. He searched the water with his eyes, but it was not clear enough to see her. Suddenly he felt his ankles being pulled at. He pulled the arm that was around them up from the water.

"What in hell are you doin', girl!"

"Trying to pull you in," she laughed.

"I already told ya, I ain't comin' in!"

"Oh big macho man Sawyer is scared of dead bodies, now?"

"I ain't scared of 'em, I just don't wanna swim with 'em."

"You mean _me,_" she retorted.

"Freckles, I'd swim with you any day, just not in a pool of corpses!"

"Chicken!" she teased, with her hand ready to splash.

"Don't you dare, Freckles," he warned jokingly.

"I'd like to see you stop me," she swirled her hand in the water, a little more.

Then she suddenly swam under water again. Sawyer took this to his advantage and stood up, pulling his shirt off quickly. Just as she rose from the water, he plunged in. When she didn't realize this, she was looking around for him. She saw his shirt lying by hers, and was about to laugh, but her head was forced under. When she came back up she was face to face with him.

"Chicken, huh?"

"I got you in, didn't I?"

"YOU got me in?"

He smiled in disbelief and shoved her underwater again. She came back up coughing and gasping for air.

"Sawyer, you jerk!" she screamed.

"Aw. You love me THAT much, Freckles?" he appeared behind her.

She turned around and was, again, face to face with him. He was smiling triumphantly as she glared at him. She kept her focus on his perfect little dimples, to keep from losing the glare, but it didn't work. She ended up laughing, and he swam away backwards. She followed him underwater for a minute, then turned a different way. She went behind the waterfall and climbed up on the rock surface. She thoughtfully watched him rise and look around for her. She laughed at his dumbstruck face when he didn't see her.

She watched for a little longer, but then stood up. She was going to call out to him but instead, she looked around at the area she had climbed up on. She discovered there was a cave behind the waterfall. Curious to see what was inside, she took a step forward. Then she remembered Sawyer. _It would probably be best to get him…_she told herself. She turned around and looked for him, but didn't see him. Suddenly, he emerged beneath her. She jumped, startled by his sudden appearance. She sighed in relief as he glared up at her, smiling.

"I didn't know we were playin' hide 'n seek."

"We were?" she smiled back innocently.

He climbed up and sat next to where she was standing. "You tell me."

"Sawyer, look," she said, pointing toward the cave.

"Golly, it's a cave! Now where's Doc when you need him?"

She glanced at him, glaringly. "What do you think is in it?"

"More bodies?" he offered.

"I think we should check it out…."

"Tell me, what goes on in that head of yours, Freckles?"

"More than you'll ever know," she glanced at him with a grin.

"Well you ain't getting' me in there," he folded his arms.

"You're right. Maybe I should wait and tell Jack about it," she said with a wicked joking edge, hoping to change his mind.

"Maybe you should," he said firmly, and then dove back in the water, swimming toward the base of the cliff.

She mentally kicked herself for saying that. She watched painfully as he climbed out and grabbed his shirt, and walked out of sight into the forest again. She sighed with her hands on her hips. What had she done?


	7. Chapter 7

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter seven of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! jk.)

**Chapter 7**

After swimming back to her clothes, and tying her hair back, Kate finally descended down the cliff and headed back to her backpack. It only took a few minutes to relocate the area, and she slipped her backpack back on. Not surprisingly, she hadn't seen Sawyer. She guessed he was somewhere near, wearing off the tension brought up with Jack's name. She wanted to find him again before heading back to camp, but she thought it a better idea to let him alone. She didn't want to risk another unintended fit of anger.

She set off through the jungle heading back to where she thought camp would be. She saw nothing, heard nothing, but the grinding of leaves beneath her feet. She kept an eye out for Sawyer, just in case, but he was nowhere in sight. Feeling the slightest bit worried, she stopped to listen for Sawyer following, or in the distance. Her heart skipped a few beats, but mostly, she remained calm. Glancing around, she still, much to her dismay, didn't see him. The suddenly, out of nowhere, the ground behind her rose up in fury. The "monster" returned, now closer than before.

She ran as fast as she could, forgetting to remove her backpack, the dull weight. She dared not look back, but just kept running as far as she could from it. Nonetheless, it seemed to be getting closer and closer to her. She stumbled over a loose tree root, and would've fallen, were it not for an outstretched arm, pulling her into a tight circle of trees.

"Sawyer?" she whispered, uncertainly.

Her vision was blurred from the sudden tears of fright that formed. She blinked a few times, clearing her eyesight. She looked up expecting to see Sawyer's rugged stubble in her face. Instead, when she looked up, she was opposite of Jack. Disregarding her shock for the time being, she heard the "monster" right next to them. She held her breath, hiding her loud and unsteady breathing. Her eyes were closed tight as she waited for the monster to leave. It took longer this time, than when she was with Sawyer. It lingered there by them, as if it knew they were there and it was just toying with them. She felt Jack move and guessed he was trying to get a look at it. But just as he shifted, the monster headed off. She sighed in relief and opened her eyes again. He looked at her.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," she breathed. "You?"

"Yeah."

She nodded in agreement and climbed out of the thicket after him. Then it hit her that this was Jack and not Sawyer. Worry for Sawyer consumed her again, and she hoped he and the "monster" didn't and wouldn't cross paths.

"Kate…Where have you been?"

"I've been out here for a day and half."

"By yourself?" he asked, surprised.

She looked at him for a moment, and blinked numerous times. Then she started shaking her head.

"With Sawyer."

"With Sawyer," he repeated in disbelief.

"Jack, it was fine. We survived, didn't we?"

"Surprisingly." He looked around. "So where _is_ he?"

"I don't know," she looked down.

He paused for a moment, then walked toward her. She stared at him confused. He walked to the side of her and pulled a small liquor bottle from her pocket. He looked at her in amazement.

"Where did you get this!"

"I..found it," she answered, hesitatingly.

"You're not a very good liar," he shook his head. She only looked down. "How many more of these does he have?"

"Well, I mean that was probably all he had and –" she started, trying to cover up for him.

"Kate," he stared at her, knowingly.

Looking down, she responded, "I don't know how many more."

"But he has more?"

She nodded, feeling horribly guilty for ratting him out.

"If you knew, why didn't you tell me, Kate? I needed these."

"Well howdy, Doc!"

Sawyer suddenly appeared behind them and he looked unharmed and untouched. Kate let out a breath of relief that he was okay. Then she realized she'd just ratted him out, and that was most definitely not a good thing. It was about to be World War 3.

"Good to see your still alive, Sawyer."

"Likewise," he grinned, narrowing his eyes.

"So where'd you get the booze?"

"Where do you THINK I got it?"

"You have more?"

"Well not anymore," he lied. "You just sent your girlfriend here to rummage through my stuff and take it. And ain't that politeness for ya…"

"I didn't take them all," she protested then regretted saying it.

"Do you have more?" Jack turned back to Sawyer.

"I might. But who says I wanna give 'em to you?" he

"_I _do. You know I need them, Sawyer."

"Well that's just too bad!"

"So you're just going to keep them for yourself and get drunk instead of helping save a life or two!" Jack's anger took over.

"WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I HAVE ANYMORE!"

"SHE TOLD ME YOU DO!" He pointed to Kate.

Sawyer glared at her, and she stared back, her eyes full of regret. This was going so much worse than she imagined it.

"Fine. Maybe I _do _have more! But it's gonna cost ya," he looked to Kate. She was rolling her eyes.

"There's no chance of you just giving them to me?" He was still glaring at Sawyer.

"Well there's no fun in that, now is there, doc?"

He sighed, surrendering for now. He muttered to Kate, "How did you put up with him for a day and a half?"

"Oh it was great fun," she joked…partially.

"Well don't let _me_ screw up whatever you two lovebirds were doing," he said, glancing at Kate with a glare.

She glared back at him, clearly seeing what he was trying to do. And it wasn't working. He started walking back to the beach.

"Oh and Doc," he called over his shoulder. "Freckles found a cave she wants you to see."

He grinned mischievously, and turned his back to them once more, walking toward camp. She watched his back sympathetically. Apparently, whatever he was trying to do, HAD worked. She looked at the ground sadly for a moment, then back up at Jack. He was glaring after Sawyer, sighing.

"I'm sorry, Jack."

"You didn't do anything."

"No. I mean for not telling you he had more alcohol."

"Don't worry about it. We'll get it from him, one way or another."

She couldn't quite figure out what he'd meant by that, but for some reason, she didn't think it was going to be good. Hoping he'd forgotten about that last thing Sawyer said, she hesitantly took a few steps forward.

"Kate, wait."

She turned around looking at him curiously. _Damn,_ she thought.

"Did you really find a cave?"

She was caught. She took a moment to consider whether or not she wanted to tell him. Truth be told, she was afraid of what might be in there, but then, he would be there to protect her if anything, wouldn't he? But why did she feel like that wouldn't be enough?

"No," she lied.

"Why would he say that then?"

"You know Sawyer," she said. "He always has to have the last word, or in his case, lie."

He nodded considering it, and looked to her again. She was looking him straight in the eye, trying to act as the lie was true. The eye contact settled it and she could see he finally believed her.

"We should get back to the caves, then."

"Yeah," she agreed, pulling the straps of her backpack tighter to her.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The day wore on and nighttime quickly snuck upon them. Before she knew it, it was late at night and everyone seemed to be asleep. Except for her, of course. (And it should be very clear as to why by now). She sat up and with a stick, poked at the embers of what was once a large fire. She couldn't fall asleep and had no clue what to do with herself. She thought of going to see if Sawyer was still awake, but then she decided against it. She knew all too well what would happen if she were to disturb him from his slumber. She wanted to walk through the jungle and just explore her surroundings, but it was too dangerous, especially at night. And what would Jack think if he saw her gone? She certainly didn't want him coming to her rescue, _again. _

Finally, she decided to take a walk to somewhere she knew she'd be pretty safe. She brought her backpack, just in case anything unexpected could happen. It wasn't very far from the caves anyway. She looked back at Jack, who was sleeping, one last time, making sure he wasn't watching her. He was definitely in a deep sleep and she slipped into the jungle with ease. As she walked, she found a large stick, almost as tall as her. She dubbed it her walking stick and continued to walk. In pretty close distance, she heard soft plunks into water. She stopped for a minute to listen again. Sure enough, she heard another splash.

Getting a sickened feeling in her stomach that someone else discovered the place, she pushed her way through the leaves. She saw a shadowed figure sitting on a rock tossing rocks into the water. She warily inched closer until she realized who it was – Sawyer. She was sure he hadn't seen her yet, of course only because she was hidden behind a few trees – the darkness assisted in camouflage too. She watched him attentively. He was holding his letter wrapped around a rock. It seemed that he wanted to throw it in the water, but for the twelve and half minutes that she watched him, he just held it and stared at it.

She walked slowly over to him and put her hand over his – the one holding the rock. Her touch had a soothing effect on him, and he suddenly felt at ease and less pained. He looked up at her, his face full of distress. Their eyes locked and neither of them blinked.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," she murmured to him.

"What difference does it make?" he said.

"I can tell it means too much to you to throw it away," she said pulling her hand away, andsitting down. "So you shouldn't."

"What the hell do you know about me!"

She looked at him, hurt by his sudden fury. _I guess he's still upset,_ she concluded. He didn't say anything else, but just kept looking out at the water. She did too, and for some reason, the waterfall seemed to pour a lot softer now than it did earlier today. Crickets chirped and a moth landed on her knee. With an easy swipe of her hand on her knee, it fluttered away to safety. She enviously watched it fly away into the dark sky. Suddenly she heard a loud thump and a splash. His hand was empty; the rock was in the water now. She looked at him, confused. Then she saw the letter crumpled in his other hand.

"So you come out here to spy on me, Freckles?" he broke the silence.

She smiled in relief to hear him call her "Freckles" again. Strange how that worked out, because she hadn't really been too fond of the nickname.

"I couldn't sleep," she rested her head in her hand which rested upon her knee.

"And you came here?"

"Well I wanted to be alone."

"That makes the two of us."

"Who are you kidding?" she snickered. "You're always alone."

"Not when you're always taggin' along behind me," he playfully answered.

"Don't pretend that it bothers you."

He laughed. "So you ever show Doc that cave?"

"No."

He looked at her, curiously. "No?"

"No," she repeated.

"Why not?"

"I didn't want to go searching it with him," she glanced at him.

"You're gonna check it out by yourself?"

"Well…no." She looked at him, with a question in her eyes.

"Me? You gotta be kiddin', Freckles."

"Oh come on. Don't you want to see if there's anything in there to add to your collection?"

"Ha ha."

"Is that a yes?"

"When were you plannin' on goin'?"

"I don't know. Probably tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow ain't gonna work."

"Why not?"

"'Cause that gives Hero enough time to get you too busy to go," he replied.

He had a point. "Well then what do you suggest?"

To this, he lifted something large from the ground on onto his lap. With a click, light shone on his face. Kate laughed as he raised his eyebrows in question. She couldn't stop shaking her head at how much of an idiot he looked at that moment. But she couldn't resist that. She got up and pulled her backpack on again. He stood up too.

"Lead the way," he pointed the flashlight down and in front of her.

This had to be a huge mistake, but it was so worth it.


	8. Chapter 8

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter eight of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! jk.)

**Chapter 8 **

Kate and Sawyer climbed on in silence up and around the edge of the cliff. They were somewhat high up, because that was the only way to get there without having to swim. He kept looking down to see how high up they were, and as it was, they were quite a few feet from the water. Kate stumbled accidentally, and almost fell, but Sawyer grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. She looked up at him, grateful, and he looked down at her. He nodded ahead and let her go. They went on. After awhile, Kate came to an abrupt stop, and Sawyer was confused.

"What's goin' on?"

"The cliff ends here…"

He had a very bad feeling about this. He looked past her and saw it too. She was staring down at the water. His shoulders slumped and he sighed.

"You gotta be kiddin' me," he shook his head.

"I was sure there was a way to get through..."

"We gotta go in there? Right now?"

"To get to the cave, yes. But we should probably climb down – "

She was cut off by a loud splash that forced her eyes closed. When she opened them and looked behind her, she saw nothing, except a shirt. She looked down, and there he was grinning up at her. She laughed with her hands on her hips.

"I think you lost something," she called to him, wagging his shirt in the air.

"A nighttime dip," he toyed. "Come and join me, Freckles. The water's fine!"

She laughed, her hands still on her hips and just watched him. She pulled her backpack and shoes off and tucked them inside. She wrapped his shirt around the bag and tossed it down to him - he caught it. She looked at him anxiously waiting and laughed one last time before jumping in. She realized he was right under her, and so did he. He tried to swim backward to avoid getting hit, but it was no use. She fell into the water and tumbled right on him, submerged. They both rose up and caught their breath.

"Git off me!" he laughed, shoving her off.

"Sorry!" she laughed too.

"Jesus," he shook his head.

She couldn't resist saying it: "So is this the first time you've actually shoved a woman OFF of you?"

He looked at her, surprised. "Think you're funny, do ya, Freckles?"

He shoved her head underwater. She came back up, right in front of his face – only inches between the two. His grin faded, as he stared at her longingly. Her grey/green-hazel eyes were staring back at him, blinking frantically as always. He saw pain, and yet, desire in them and he leaned forward. Her eyes fluttered closed and his too, as their noses grazed. Her lips were but a breath away from his. Then she whispered,

"We should really get to the cave…"

He opened his eyes looking at her, hers still closed, but she was looking down. Something wasn't right. It looked as if she had wanted it too, didn't it? Then why did she pull away at the last minute? Was it something he'd done? He felt intense heat and sudden anger take over him. But he kept his mouth shut, and just glared in the other direction.

"Fine," he said as calmly as he could, although there was much tension in his voice.

He swam under the waterfall and back to the rocks they were on when he found her earlier. He tossed the backpack up first and then climbed out himself. Kate slowly followed. He pulled his shirt from the bundle and put it back on, wringing the water from it first. He opened her backpack to get out his flashlight, but then he saw something else. It was a tiny plastic plane laid on top of a photograph. He pulled the photo out and looked at it. It was a picture of Kate and another man. He heard her drawing closer so he stuffed the photo in his pocket and closed the backpack.

She climbed up on the rocks too and sat. She wringed out her hair and put her shoes back on. Finally ready to go, she stood up and put her backpack on. He shoved the flashlight into her arms and she looked at him for a moment. He just narrowed his eyes at her and she rolled hers. They turned and both looked in the cave. She shone the light in, but it was all darkness.

"Ready?" she asked him.

"Have been for ten minutes now," he responded coldly.

She glanced at him, disgusted by his sudden rage. She shook her head and tried to forget about it, and took the first step into the cave. For the first few minutes, the cave was nothing but darkness and rock walls. They heard nothing but their feet walking through it. Then they both heard a fluttering sound and stopped, simultaneously. They looked at each other questioningly. Suddenly, a large cluster of bats flew at them. Sawyer backed himself against a wall, looking away, and instantly pulled the screaming Kate next to him. She buried her head in his arms, in order to protect it. They stood together in silence.

After the bats were finally gone, Kate slowly turned her head out of his arms. She went to pick up the dropped flashlight and another bat flew at her. She jumped back out of the way as if flew by. Sawyer only laughed. She glared at him and picked up the flashlight.

"Scared of bats," he said with a snicker.

She rolled her eyes, "Come on, cowboy."

Again, they walked silently through the cave, the light wandering around. Soon enough, it ended at a large area, fit for a family of bears. However, it did not serve as a home to one. There were signs of a fire, a small pond in the far left with a bit of trickle running down the wall. On the right, there was a few muddy blankets, or what seemed like blankets, and tons of huge leaves, undoubtedly from the trees of the island. It looked like quite a nice shelter.

Sawyer walked around it, and noticed torchbearers on the walls. He took out his lighter and lit the torches. Startled but the sudden light, Kate looked at him. He shrugged as he lit a cigarette when he was done with the torches. She switched the flashlight off and took a look around. She went to the center where a fire seemed to have been. She studied it and decided that this place was abandoned a very long time ago. Sawyer's smoke started to fill the area pretty quickly. She coughed lightly and glared at him.

"What!"

"You wanna put that out?"

"Not really."

"I didn't think so anyway."

He looked at her and sighed. He tossed the cigarette into the ashes of the old fire. Suddenly, it went ablaze. It grew uneasily silent yet again. Sawyer was leaning against a wall, and Kate sat in front of the fire.

"Well, whoever was here before us had a pretty good shelter," Kate concluded.

"Guess so."

"You think we should tell the others?"

"Seems like this only fits one family, sweetheart. Ain't much point in tellin' anyone, is there?"

"Then we won't. We'll keep it to ourselves."

"Fine."

Suddenly there was a loud rumbling a bit down the tunnel. They stared at each other, both wide eyed. Kate got up and grabbed the flashlight and disappeared into the darkness again. Within minutes, she was back and her face was wild with worry. He was about to ask her, but she answered it for him.

"We're stuck."


	9. Chapter 9

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter nine of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! jk.)

Quickie  
Here's a nice Independence Day gift!  
Enjoy! Gush! AND Review! Plz!

**Chapter 9 **

The words didn't register in his mind. Stuck? It was impossible. They couldn't be stuck. _HE _couldn't be stuck, especially not with her. It was all too much.

"What the hell do you mean, 'We're Stuck'?"

"The tunnel caved in. We have no way out."

"So dig it up!"

"With what? My teeth? The boulders are too big and too heavy for us to lift out. Besides," she sat in front of the fire again. "If we try to clear it out, we might end up getting caved in on and killed."

Damn. He hated it when she was right. But now he would be stuck with her for god knows how long! It could be hours, days, weeks, months! This was unreal. He had had enough of her already. He'd never be able to deal with her for more than a few days. Then another thought filled his mind – would anything at all happen between them?

"Think Jack would send out a search party for us?"

"For you," he corrected. "But they wouldn't find us anyhow."

She nodded. She thought about it. Why couldn't she have come and searched it with Jack? He'd be a lot easier to live with. Instead, she was going to be stuck for however long with _Sawyer_. She could imagine it perfectly. Constant arguments, ruthless comments, over-perverseness. Why did the stupid tunnel have to cave in? Sawyer sighed, breaking her garrulous thoughts. She sighed too.

"How are we going to survive here? We can't be stuck!"

"How the hell am I supposed to know? You're the one who wanted to check this place out! So don't go yellin' at me!"

"Sawyer, move."

"What?"

"Move away from where you're standing."

He did, and then turned around and saw what she saw. There were 3 trunks against the wall. They exchanged glances and Kate got up. She went and kneeled in front of the trunks, while Sawyer remained standing against the wall. To their luck, the trunks were open. She opened the first one and it was full of wrapped breads, fully packaged pastries, and what looked like dried boar meat. She opened the second one and it was full of water bottles, and tons of cans of beer, miniature booze similar to Sawyer's, and 2 full, corked bottles of wine.

"Jackpot!" Sawyer echoed through the cave.

She laughed and opened the last one, then immediately slammed the top down again. Sawyer looked at her, misunderstanding. She blinked several times and nodded toward it, signaling for him to look for himself. He went and kicked it open with his foot, and inside were rotted bones. Tons of them. All sizes and shapes. He let the top fall down and close again.

"Chicken bones?" he offered, trying to keep things on a brighter note.

"I don't think so," she replied, proving his joke didn't help. "You don't think..."

"Nah. Least I hope not, anyway."

She sighed. "Well, at least we have food and drinks to last for a few days or so."

"What about the stuff in your backpack?"

"It's not really much. Just a compass, some berries, a flashlight or two, and..." she hesitated to continue, "…a change of clothes."

He snickered sarcastically, "Well that'll come in handy."

"Shut up."

And he did, except for the subsided snickering. She stayed seated by the trunks, looking at them, but at the same time, seeming like she was somewhere else. Sawyer glanced around the cave…room. He went from glancing at the fire, to the pond on the side, to the area of blankets and leaves. This brought up an interesting thought.

"Guess we're bunking partners, huh, Freckles?" he grinned, slyly.

"What?" she snapped out of it.

"Well there seems to be only one bed," he nodded toward the blankets.

She looked at him and scoffed. "The blankets can move, and we can make two."

He was beaten down. He went to the chest of drinks and pulled two beers. Then he sat in front of the fire, one beer in one hand, and nothing in the other. She got up and sat across from him, but didn't get any drink.

"Aw, join in the festivities, Freckles," he held out the other can.

"I don't really want to."

"Liar."

She scowled at him, but smiling. "I don't want any."

"Yes you do."

He tossed the can at her and she caught it. She gave in and opened it, taking a drink. He took a big gulp of his own. About an hour later, they had both gone through quite a few cans. Sawyer took another gulp of his current can, then set it down next to his knee.

"Truth or dare?" he suddenly blurted out.

"What!" she said in surprise.

"Truth or dare?" he repeated, smiling this time. "C'mon, Freckles. Don't tell me you never played it!"

"No! I have," she said as a matter of factly, "But, aren't we a little old to be playing?"

"You can never get too old for it. You just gotta change the rules a bit," he said with a smirk.

She shook her head smiling, and looked down. She looked back up again and he was still waiting for an answer. She rolled her eyes and let out a laugh.

"All right, truth."

"Damn. Why do girls always gotta pick 'truth'?"

She laughed. "Because we know what you'd dare us."

"All right." He paused to think of a question. "Okay. Who do you like better, me or Jacko?"

"What?"

"You picked truth," he reminded her.

"That's an inappropriate question!"

"Aw come on. I ain't gonna cry over it."

"No. I can't answer that."

"Just admit it. You like Doc better."

"No."

"No!" he grinned.

"No, I mean I won't admit it!"

"But you do?"

"Sawyer!"

"Just answer the question!"

"No, I'm not answering it!"

"Why the hell not!"

"Because! It's an unfair question!"

"I told ya I ain't gonna cry over it or nothin'! So if you wanna say you like Doc better then say it!"

"You're unbelievable, you know that?"

"You gonna answer the question, or what, Freckles?"

"I like you both equally, okay?"

"Fine. But next time I ask a question, you're answerin' it truthfully whether you like it or not."

"Okay," she laughed. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Have you ever been attracted to a man?"

He almost spit out the gulp of beer he just took. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"Hell no!"

"Coulda fooled me."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Well you know, you just seem like you have a thing for Jack…" she looked away innocently.

"Very funny. But now it's my turn again."

She only laughed. "You have!"

"What?"

"You have been attracted to a man!" She laughed wildly.

"I have not!"

"Yes, you have! You just denied it by switching the topic!"

"No, I didn't!"

She was mad with laughter now. Her eyes were tearing and he saw the drunkenness shining in them. He couldn't deny that he was well drunk himself.

"All right, come on now," he felt slight irritation.

"I'm sorry!" she tried to calm her laughing. "That's just so comical!"

"Oh of course it is!"

She got serious, but her eyes were still sparkling with amusement. "Does Jack know?"

He scowled at her and she laughed again. Well this was certainly a side of her he had never seen.

"Or maybe it's Sayid you're attracted to…" she laughed, waggling her eyebrows.

"Ha ha. Now, pick your deed."

"Okay," she calmed down finally. "I'll stick with truth again."

"Okay. Who's the last guy you screwed and when?"

"Honestly?" she pretended to think for a brief moment. "Jack. About 3 ½ hours ago," she bit her lip to keep from laughing.

He looked at her bewildered and his heart almost stopped. She gave up and cracked up laughing again and he knew she was joking. Somehow, she had been so crazy with laughter that she ended up lying on the floor, her head in his lap.

"You are too damn drunk, Freckles," he looked down at her.

"I'm not drunk!" she insisted, but her laughter was continuous.

"'Course you're not," he muttered.

"I - am not - drunk," she looked at him, woozily.

She pointed her finger at him and then broke into a fit of laughter again. He couldn't help but laugh at her laughing. He had to admit, it was quality entertainment. He never saw a girl look so sexy when she was drunk. It was wrong to just sit and watch her make a fool of herself. But at least she was happy for once.

"You wanna get serious now?"

"All right," she stopped laughing, finally and sat back across from him. "What was the question now?"

"Who's Tom?" he asked, deciding to think of a new question instead.

Her eyes got wide and her face went pale. "Wh-who?"

"Tom," he repeated, getting more interested by the minute.

She swallowed and looked down then back up at him again. She shaped the words but nothing came out. She sighed and tried again.

"How do you know about Tom?" she said softly.

He looked at her, then down at the fire. He tossed his hand in the air and turned halfway to his side. He pulled something out of his back pocket and took one more look at it, before handing it to her. She took it from him. It was a photograph of Kate and, by the writing on the back, Tom. She looked at it for a while, then finally looked back up at Sawyer, her eyes burning with tears.

"Where did you get this?" she asked, her voice soft, but shaky.

"I found it in your bag," he looked away guiltily.

"You went through my bag!" she cried, almost too loud.

"I was gettin' my flashlight. It happened to be right under it – "

"Don't lie to me, Sawyer," she said her eyes and voice full of tears. "I can see right through it."

"I'm not lyin'! It was under a toy plane under my flashlight!"

"You have that too?" she asked angrily, not aware that tears were spilling down her cheeks.

"No!"

"Why did you take it?"

"I WAS CURIOUS!"

"ABOUT WHAT!"

"I WAS GONNA ASK IF HE WAS YOUR BOYFRIEND!" he snapped.

"NO! HE'S NOT!" she snapped back. "HE'S DEAD!"

He stared at her, mouth open. He had felt like the biggest jerk in the entire world. He had just mentally wounded the person he had never ever wanted to hurt. Even worse, he had made her cry. He took an empty beer can and crushed it in his hand. What the hell was wrong with him? She was crying silently now, and the room was gravely quiet.

"He's dead…and it's my fault," she told him.

"Don't say that," he tried to calm her down.

"But it's true," she whispered. "If I hadn't dragged him with me…"

"Kate…" he shifted around the fire and was next to her now.

"I…I killed him…" she was looking down.

"It's not your fault," he told her.

"It is!" she looked at him, her eyes lit with fury and full of tears.

Right then, he leaned in and kissed her, passionately. She hadn't pulled away or fought it, just accepted it and kissed him back. The taste of her was like water, cool and clean, after a lifetime of thirst. His blood was a rage of heat, and he was weak with desire. His hands slid down her back and he drew her closer to him.

She reached and wrapped her arms around his neck, forgetting her tears. At that moment, the world had stopped except for the two of them. He had made her forget all the pain that she had just felt. Instead she was full of excitement and need. And right now, he was all she needed.


	10. Chapter 10

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter ten of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! jk.)

Quickies  
It's a short one, but much fun! Enjoy and review!  
I love reviews! coughI can't get as many now  
because the other site I put this story on closed! (  
----------------------------------------------------

**Chapter 10 **

For the first few days they were stuck in the cave, they barely spoke to each other. However, they never ceased to play jokes, whether it was a bug in Kate's water bottle, Sawyer's cigarettes hidden in the chest of bones, which she was no longer afraid of, or Kate's backpack dunked in water then thrown on her. After three days passed, the jokes wore off and they were silent, residing in their places in the cave, which were, consequently, as far away from the other as they could be.

By the fourth day, they started talking again. Neither dared to bring up the kiss or even that night which it happened. They talked about irrelevant things like what the weather could be outside of the cave, arguing about how much food they could have or drinks in Sawyer's case, and then the arguing grew. Sawyer grew impatient with her fast. He was beginning to feel that his gun was a very inviting idea. (For himself, of course) By the end of the fourth day, they weren't speaking to each other, again.

On the morning of the fifth day, Sawyer awoke to the sound of rocks smacking each other. He sat up and found the source: Kate seemed to be tucking two of the large blankets into each side of the cave. Utterly confused, he got up and walked over.

"What the hell are you doin' now, Freckles?"

"I'm trying –" she paused, reaching up on her tiptoes. "- to make a curtain."

"Why?"

She stopped and let out a frustrated breath. "Because I want to wash up a bit."

He looked over her and saw the pond, and realized what she meant. The trickle seemed somewhat bigger now – almost like a miniature waterfall. He looked at her struggling again and laughed.

"D'ya want some help with that?"

"No. I can do this myself."

"Sure don't look like it."

"You think you could do better?"

"A hell of a lot better," he smirked.

"Fine," she stepped away, folding her arms.

He easily tucked the blanket corner in the wall, and grabbed a rock from the ground. He tucked that over the blanket and it stayed. As he started to do the same with the other blanket, Kate went over to her backpack, which was right next to the mini-fall. He finished tucking the blanket in, and poked his head through the overlap of the two.

"All done."

She looked at him and laughed. He looked like a buffoon, with his head just sticking out there. _An adorable buffoon, _she thought to herself. He stepped all the way through and looked around.

"So this is your place, huh, Freckles?" he joked. "I gotta say, it's a lot neater than I'd expected."

"Get outta here," she shoved him but he only moved a few steps.

"Aw, you're not gonna let me watch?"

"Sawyer!"

"All right, all right," he agreed, but still didn't move.

"Out!" she shoved him, laughing.

He finally went back to the opposite side of the "curtain" and pulled a mini liquor bottle from the chest. He looked over at the curtain again and realized something.

"You know, there's a small gap at the top," he said playfully.

"You stick your big head in there and I'll throw a rock at it!" she called from the other side.

"My head ain't big!" he exclaimed, feeling somewhat insulted.

She only laughed. He cautiously started walking toward the curtain again. He thought he was being quiet and was close to it now, but then she poked her head out of the side.

"Get back over there mister," she warned, smiling as she spoke.

"Aw come on, Freckles. I'll show you mine if you show me yours," he said flirtatiously.

"Are you always this much of a perv?"

"No. You're just special," he dimpled.

"Lucky me."

She went back to washing up again, and the blanket waved back against the wall. It was quiet, except for the movement of water. When the liquor was gone, Sawyer reached into his back pocket to pull out his cigarettes but they weren't there. He sighed.

"Honey!" he called out teasingly. "Where'd ya put my smokes?"

"Did you check your underwear drawer?" she called back, playing along.

"Funny!"

"I didn't put them anywhere."

"They ain't in my back pocket where I left 'em!"

"Maybe they fell out when you were sleeping."

He went over to his "bed" and sure enough, there they were, slightly crumpled. He pulled one out, then stuck the pack in his back pocket. He went to pull his lighter out, but then that was gone too.

"Don't s'pose you know where my lighter is, do ya?"

"Wow, Sawyer. I didn't know you were so organized!"

Suddenly a lighter hit him in the head.

"Goddamn!" he cried out, rubbing his head.

He heard her laughing as he picked the lighter up from the ground. He lit his cigarette and put the lighter back in his pocket, where it should have been. He sat with his back against a wall, and let out a puff of smoke. After about 15 minutes, there were no sounds of water anymore, and Kate, fully dressed, pushed through the "curtains". She was drying her hair with a towel from the bunch they'd found with the blankets.

"Have a nice shower, sweetheart?" he teased.

She looked at him, and rolled her eyes, tossing the towel at his head.

"Are you _tryin' _to start a fire?" he gestured to the cigarette.

"Are _you _trying to kill yourself?"

"You want me to answer that honestly?"

She considered it. "No."

A few more days passed, first with silence, then the pranks started up again, only this time, a bit more playful. Sometimes Sawyer would sneak up on her and grab her sides or tickle her, or sometimes when he was getting something out of one of the chests, she'd jump on his back, piggyback style. At one point, Kate would wake him up by leaning her face so close to him, that she would pretend to be about to kiss him, until he opened his eyes and she backed off. This left him in a most grumpy mood. But he got used to it after a while, and just turned the other way when he knew she was there, most of the time, her lips just brushing his cheek, which he'd intended to happen.

They were stuck in the cave for a week and a half when they finally started arguing about getting out. Kate kept insisting they were stuck, and Sawyer refused to hear it. She had the flashlight so he couldn't go unless he could get it. One morning he stormed through the curtains, as they never really were taken down, and went to her backpack. She was lying on her "bed" with her little plane, and when he came in, she sat up, stuffing the plane in her pocket. He searched through her backpack, but much to his dismay, she was holding the flashlight already.

"Nice of you to come right in," she folded her arms. "I mean god forbid I was washing up or getting dressed –"

"Give it to me," he stared at her sternly.

"What?" she stood up, confused. She hoped he wasn't saying what she thought he was!

"Gimme the flashlight!"

"No!"

"Why not?"

"Because! If you go in there, there's a great possibility that you'll be caved in and probably killed!"

"All the more reason to go!" he snapped.

"Sawyer!" she screamed in disbelief.

"Freckles, I'll ask you one more time! Gimme the damn flashlight!"

"Oh, now it's a damned flashlight?" she inquired teasingly.

He groaned and walked over to her trying to grab the flashlight, and she took a few steps backward. She put it behind her back. He tried for it again, but she just turned another way. When he grabbed her wrists, she wriggled out of his grasp and held it above her head, and stood on a rock next to the mini-fall. For the moment, she was taller than him. He reached and couldn't get it. She grinned, victoriously. He glared. Then he had an idea.

He started tickling her and she dropped the flashlight, screeching with laughter. But suddenly, she was losing her balance. She was about to fall into the mini-fall and Sawyer tried to catch her, but when he grabbed her arms, he fell in the water with her. Now they were both soaking wet, and on top of each other.

"Now look what you did, Freckles!"

"What _I _did?" she laughed. "_You _were the one who started tickling me! Making me lose my balance!"

"Well you didn't have ta pull me in with ya!"

She looked at him in amazement, smiling the whole time. She looked down at herself, all wet, and laughed. _Won't be needing a shower today, _she thought to herself. She looked back up at him, and saw the glare had disappeared. They gazed at each other for a brief moment, then found themselves kissing again, vigorously. Then suddenly, as if it were a reflex, he shoved her off of him and she fell into the water deeper. He got up and out of the water, and she sat up, scowling at him.

"What the hell was that?"

"You were on top of me. I had to get you off, didn't I?" he said, the glare back in his eyes.

"Oh so you decided to kiss me then you just _had _to shove me into the water!"

"Did ya want me to shove ya on the rocks?"

"No!"

"Well okay then!"

She looked away from him, disgusted. What on earth had gotten into him? Why was he suddenly so…angry? And what the hell was that kiss about? Not…that she had minded it. He started to slowly walk away. Kate got up to stop him, but accidentally hit her head on the rock above and fell back down into the water, with a big splash. Luckily, the splash caught his attention. She grabbed her head and squeezed her eyes shut. It was an overwhelming pain, but she didn't want him to think anything of it. So instead, she opened her eyes, and put her hand down. To her disappointment, when she looked down at her hand, it had quite a bit of blood on it. She quickly washed her hand in the water, as Sawyer started toward her again.

"It's okay. I'm fine."

"What in hell did you do?"

"I hit my head, that's all. But it's fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

To prove it, she got up and out of the water, and stood straight, as dizzy as she felt. She shrugged, questioning his belief. Thankfully, he seemed to approve and stormed through the curtains. As soon as he did, she collapsed on her blankets, and breathed hard. She was again overwhelmed by pain and couldn't see clearly anymore. She looked around but couldn't make out what was what. She tried to sit up, but the room was spinning and she lied right back down. Finally, she passed out, face down, with a loud thud.


	11. Chapter 11

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter eleven of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! jk.)

Quickie/Reminder

Just so we're clear on this, this story takes place after "Outlaws" and before "Exodus". Therefore, some characters that may have already 'left' the show or whatever have not. Just reminding ya'll! Also, this is a very jam-packed long chapter! So beware!

**Chapter 11**

A cold feeling traveling through her is what woke her up. When she opened her eyes, she could see again, and the first thing she saw was Sawyer, sitting next to her, his knees up. Confused, she looked up at him. He glanced down at her, but then looked away. She sat up, felt pressure on her head, and leaned back so she was sitting up against a wall. Then she realized the pressure was Sawyer holding a wet piece of cloth on her head. She began to wonder when he came, and why. She wondered if he knew she was lying about her head. Then she saw a few red cloths next to him. Her shoulders slumped and she closed her eyes.

"How long have you been here?" she asked him.

"A while," he responded, still not looking in her direction.

His voice was very quiet, and no traces of anger from earlier remained. He got up, taking the cloth with him. She watched him go to the water and rinse the cloth, and then he came back. He sat the same way and put the cloth over her wound, again. She looked down, feeling sorry for lying to him. She wanted to apologize, but something told her that it wouldn't matter either way.

"Is it bad?"

"Well, what do _you _think?" he said coldly, holding up the other red cloths.

She looked down. His returning anger made her feel even worse. She still had no idea what set it off, but she didn't want to ask him. She knew it would just be adding insult to injury. Instead, she had a different idea.

"Sawyer?"

He finally looked at her. She looked down, then back up at him.

"Thank you."

He looked at her for a moment, as if she had just uttered the words of death. Then he looked away. There was no "You're welcome" or a nod of agreement. Just a death stare. Something was on his mind, and Kate had no idea what. But she was determined to find out.

"Are you okay?"

"Couldn't be better."

"Now why don't I believe that?" she grinned at the ground.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't seem like…yourself."

"Who are you to know who I am?" he growled, removing his hand from her head.

"You see? You're acting like an angry monster. What's wrong?" she grabbed her head to hold the cloth in place.

"Nothin'," he looked away again.

"Stop looking away and tell me!"

He looked at her again, and looked like he was about to say something. Alternatively, he got up and stormed through the curtains to the other side. She groaned, frustrated, and got up to follow him, although she was still somewhat dizzy. She almost fell, but grabbed the curtain and maintained her balance. When she got through to the other side, she leaned against a wall, panting. She looked at him angrily, and he stared fixedly back at her.

"What is wrong with you? Something is apparently bothering you and I'm not stopping until you tell me!" she declared, still panting.

"Well then I guess there ain't no stoppin' you!"

"Ugh! Why are you being like this? Did you wake up angry or was it something I did?"

"It's not about you, sweetheart! It's about me! But I am not interested in tellin' you!"

"Why not?" she gasped, grabbing her side.

"Because…" He looked at her, curiously, when she grabbed her side. Then he remembered what he was saying, "Because I said so!"

"That's not –" she almost lunged, but grabbed the wall to stop the fall. "That's not a full answer."

"Are you all right?" he took a few steps toward her.

"Fine," she held a hand up to stop him. "Now tell me what's going on!"

"I already told you! It's got nothin' to do with you!"

"I didn't say it did!"

"Then why do you have to know!"

"Because! Maybe I can……" she blinked furiously and seemed to be having a hard time breathing. "…..help….."

Suddenly, she got way too dizzy. She blinked several times and shook her head vigorously. Then she lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground. Sawyer ran over to her and leaned her upper body up in his arms. He was slapping her very lightly on the face in attempt to wake her up.

"Hey…" he whispered. "Hey…Hey…Kate!"

But she wouldn't wake up. Not knowing what else to do, he lifted her up and carried her to his "bed", since it was closer than her own. He took one of the blankets and ripped a piece off, then draped the rest of it over her. Then he disappeared through the curtains. He returned with the piece of blanket soaking wet and folded. He pushed the strands of hair out of her face and put it on her head. The coldness of the wet homemade compress sent a tremor through her. She instantly awoke and grabbed his wrist. He realized she was breathing rapidly and her eyes were wide.

"Hey! Hey calm down, girl! Come on!"

He tried to free his wrist, for her grasp was very tight. He knew something was wrong, but couldn't figure out what. _When people hit their head, they don't go passin' out! _he thought to himself. He gave up on loosening his wrist. He looked at her eyes, seeing if they could tell him anything about what was wrong with her. She looked at him, her breathing still swift. She saw worry and terror in his eyes. Could he…Was Sawyer actually scared?

"W-What happened?"

"Whaddaya mean _what happened_! You just collapsed on the ground!"

"I….I did?" she looked up at him confused. "Oh."

"What the hell did you do to your head, Freckles?"

"I already told you, its fine."

"No it ain't! It's bleedin' like a son of a bitch and you're passin' out all over the place!"

"I just bumped it is all! And I'm not passing out all over the place!"

He got up and went through the curtains to the mini-fall. He looked all around the area above it for anything worse than rock she could've hit her head on. Then he saw it: on the left, which is where she was, was a jagged rock pointing downward. And in fact, there was a bit of her blood on it. _Damnit, Kate, _he thought to himself. He felt the pointed tip of it, and felt a small bit that seemed to be missing. He sighed, exasperatedly. He went through the curtains and back to Kate.

"We gotta get outta here," he told her.

"What?" she struggled to sit up, and wouldn't let him help her. "Why?"

"We gotta get you back to Jack," he said, pulling the last cigarette from his pack between his lips.

"Jack?" she said, misunderstanding.

"That ain't just a bump on the head, Freckles," he said as he lit the cigarette.

"Please! It's not like I cracked my skull! It's a bump!"

"Well that we wouldn't know," he told her. He took a drag and continued, "Which is why I gotta get ya to Doc."

She looked at him puzzled. He looked at her too, and just realized he had used _I _in place of _we._ He muttered and cursed himself under his breath.

"I'm not going," she said, folding her arms.

"Whaddaya mean you're not goin'?"

"I don't want to go back," she informed him. "Yet!" she added quickly, after seeing his face.

"Freckles, that thing in your head could mess you up!"

"What thing in my head?"

He sighed. He really had to stop letting things slip like that. He didn't mean to let that out. He had no intentions of worrying her more than she had been already. He came up with a new idea. He tossed the cigarette in the fire.

"All right, look. You hang here for awhile, I'll be back in a few."

"What? Why!"

He didn't answer her.

"Sawyer!"

He started walking away and, again, slipped through the curtains. She tried to get up to follow him but was too dizzy and the pain in her head was full blast now. He came out with the flashlight in his hand, and held it up to her, grinning victoriously. She gaped at him. This was so wrong. She felt helpless.

"Stay put darlin'!" he warned, as he started into the tunnel. Then he called back over his shoulder, "Wouldn't want you to hurt yourself."

"Sawyer! Get back here! You're going to kill yourself! Sawyer!"

Meanwhile, back at the beach, Jack was busy devising a search party for the missing Kate and Sawyer. Unfortunately, not many had volunteered. Amongst those who had were Sayid, Hurley, Locke, and Boone. Charlie said he wanted to stay with Claire. He claimed that lately, her contractions were on and off and she probably needed someone to help her cope with it. And Michael didn't want to leave Walt by himself.

"All right," Jack began. "We all need to split up and look all around the jungle for any signs of Kate or Sawyer."

"Dude…Are we searching for like remains and…stuff?" Hurley inquired.

"They've only been gone for a week. Their bodies wouldn't have decomposed that fast."

"Unless they've been dead the whole week and any type of flesh eating creature has gotten to them. Then, yes, Hugo, we'd be searching for remains," Locke said, a bit cheerfully.

"Think the monster got them?" Boone asked.

"One can only hope not," Sayid responded.

"All right, look. There are five of us. If we all split up into two groups of two and one person goes alone, and we search the area, we can probably find them faster," Jack stated.

"Boone and I will search for any boar we can find while we're at it," Locke suggested, looking at Boone a bit too mischievously.

"Yeah," Boone agreed.

"I will go alone," Sayid said, starting to take charge. "Hurley, you can go with Jack. I can search the North and East parts of the jungle, you two will search the West, and Locke and Boone can search the South, since that is where they claim the boar have migrated."

"Um, dude, what if we _don't_ find them?"

"The best thing that we can do right now, is to not think like that," Sayid answered.

"Right…but if we _don't _find them?"

"We'll keep searching until we do find them," Jack said.

"'Kay," Hurley said, finally backing down.

"So we can meet at the caves by sundown. Hopefully, one of us will have found them by then," Jack said, more to himself than to anyone else.

Sawyer walked through the few feet of the tunnel, flashing the light all around. After a few minutes, he found the area that was stuck. He sighed in exasperation at what he saw. There were rocks – no, boulders – blocking the whole way. He'd never be able to get them out himself, and Kate wouldn't be much help if she was going to keep passing out on him. He paced for a moment, unsure of what to do. At first, he thought he should go back, but he decided against it. It would do no good.

He tried to move the boulders, but none of them would budge. As he kept inspecting the area, he noticed a smaller rock at the bottom. He gazed a bit longer and thought that if he could remove that one, the rest would pile outward and they could get out. Without thinking any further, he set the flashlight down, rolled his sleeves up and began to pull. It took him a while, but it finally started to nudge its way out.

When it was completely out, Sawyer stood back and took a look, proudly, at his small accomplishment. He looked at the wall of stone, and _then _saw the flaw. The rocks started to rumble, and crack, and bits and pieces started flinging everywhere.

"Son of a bitch!" he shouted, and it echoed.

Kate sat up completely, her eyes widened. She heard the loud rumbling first, then Sawyer's loud enraging cry. She knew instantly that something terrible had happened. She waited until the rumbling stopped, her eyes closed and looking away the whole time. When the rumbling started to soften, she heard scraping against the ground near her.

"Godamnit!" Sawyer cried, backing into the room.

She opened her eyes instantly and was relieved to find he was okay. She got up with all the strength she could gather and ran to him, throwing her arms around him, tightly. He wasn't sure it would be the best thing to do at just that moment, but he held her in his arms anyway. After a few minutes, when it got awkward, Sawyer started to push her off, but let his hands remain on her shoulders. She, however, seemed to be leaning on him.

"Freckles, I ain't one to lean on, in case ya didn't notice."

"Sawyer, I can't feel my legs."

"Christ," he muttered to himself.

He lifted her up, one arm around her shoulders, the other under her legs and carried her to his "bed".

"Bet you wish I was doin' this for other reasons, don'tcha, Freckles?" he said, trying to cheer her up a bit.

She smiled. "You have your fantasies, I have mine," she said artfully.

He placed her down gently, then went to the "Booze Chest" and helped himself to a beer. He sat next to her, knees up, and took a swig. He held the bottle out to her, offering, but she declined. She smiled to herself, then looked up at him.

"So what on earth did you do?"

"Let's just say you're lucky we got booze, 'cause it's gonna be a heck of a time livin' with me!"

"It isn't already?"

In the meantime, the search party was doing their best to find any trace of the lost couple. Unfortunately, they had no such luck, although some had worse luck than others…

"So, you think they're together?" Hurley asked.

"Probably," Jack said flatly.

"Think they like, banged, or anything?"

"Is this really the time to talk about that?" Jack replied, getting annoyed.

"I dunno. I mean 'cause I was just wondering. I know you got kinda a thing for Kate and all. So I was just wondering…"

"What makes you think I have a "thing" for Kate?"

"Dude. Do you seriously want me to answer that?"

Jack stopped and turned around facing Hurley. "Yeah, I do."

"Oh." He paused for a moment. "See I didn't think you were gonna really want me to answer that, so now I don't know what to say. You think maybe like –"

"You know what, forget it. Let's just keep looking."

"Um, dude?"

"What?" Jack sighed.

"I think I found something," he pointed to Kate's white shirt – the one she wore over almost every other shirt she had. "That's bad, right?"


	12. Chapter 12

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter twelve of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! jk.)

**Chapter 12**

The day wore on, and the search party continued on. Kate and Sawyer remained where they were, talking, shockingly peacefully. Sawyer had finally explained to Kate what had happened, and she couldn't get enough of teasing him.

"So you're telling me, you thought by moving the smaller rock, the rest would just topple over and clear the way?" Kate laughed.

"It was a good idea, at the time!"

"Well it ain't now!"

He stared at her grinning. She scrunched her eyebrows looking at him curiously.

"What?"

"Freckles," he said, tipping the bottle toward her. "You've just proven that you have been stuck here with me for way too damn long!"

"Oh really?" she said, rolling her eyes.

He snickered. "You just said 'ain't'."

"No, I didn't…" she denied. "Did I?"

"'Fraid so, darlin'," he said, still grinning, and taking another gulp of beer.

"Oh god," she said, covering her face with both hands now. "That's so horribly wrong."

"Ain't that the truth."

There was a brief awkward silence, but then Kate laughed.

"I still can't believe you got us stuck in here even worse. I didn't think it was even possible!"

"Oh ha-ha. Feelin' better now, are we!"

"Actually, yes. A lot better."

"Figures…"

"So you don't think there's any chance of us getting out then?"

"Jesus, Freckles! Go take a look at the doorway if you don't believe me!"

"No, I believe you. But…where's the flashlight?"

An embarrassed blush filled his face and gave Kate the answer straight away. She shook her head at him, sniggering.

"After going through all that just to get it from me and you lose it to a bunch of rocks."

"Boulders…" he corrected, trying to feel less embarrassed.

"Same thing, Sawyer," she said, reaching over taking the bottle from his hand, and taking a sip.

"Oh, sure! You can have some! I don't mind!"

"Oh, thanks," she beamed.

"You really are something, Freckles."

She sighed. "Do you ever have a feeling like you don't want to be rescued from here?"

He looked at her, eyebrows raised. "Okay! That's enough drinkin' for you, sweetheart," he said, taking the bottle back from her.

She laughed. "I'm serious."

"Ah, Freckles, being stuck here with you brings me more 'n more pain everyday!" he joked.

"Oh really?" she stood up.

"Really," he grinned.

"Well then, I won't bother you a minute longer."

She walked away and disappeared through the "curtain". Sawyer laughed shaking his head. He counted to four in his head waiting for her return…

* * *

After Hurley had discovered Kate's shirt, Jack grew even more worrisome and started looking around the area for anything else, over and over, even though Hurley had pointed out that they'd searched the area 25 times already. Jack refused to stop, and luckily, he found footprints. They followed them for a bit until they reached an opening where there was a large waterfall pouring into what seemed to be a lake.

"Dude…"

But Jack ignored him. His eyes were fixed upon the bandage lying on the rocks. He knew for a fact it was the bandage he had put on Sawyer's arm a few weeks ago. Too many thoughts raced through his mind. _They were abducted. They were drowned. They were together…_

"Um, no offense, dude, but shouldn't we be looking around or something? For like, clues and stuff?"

"Yeah," Jack replied, but he was frozen, still staring at the bandage.

_They were together…_

* * *

Exactly four seconds later, as Sawyer hade predicted, Kate returned. He grinned, triumphantly.

"Couldn't stay away, couldja, Freckles?"

"I…left something here," she declared.

"And what might that be?"

She walked over to him and took the bottle of beer from his hands, without a word. Then, she retreated back to her own side of the cave.

"I was _drinkin' _that!" he called out to her.

"Your point?" she called back.

"All right, you know what, Freckles? I ain't gonna be no Mr. Nice Guy anymore!"

She poked her head out of the curtain and said with a straight face, "When were you EVER nice?"

"That's it!"

He got up quickly and she dashed from the curtains and hid under a blanket. She tried to lie perfectly still, but her breathing gave her away. Despite that, Sawyer was not as stupid as she seemed to think he was. He got on his knees next to her, and ripped the blanket away. She looked up at him, defensively. He held her wrists down above her head.

"Well well. What have we here?" he paused, then grinned at her. "Ah, Freckles, there are too many things I can think of doin' right now."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"By now, it probably shouldn't."

"Of course not."

"Hmm. Well this is pretty comfortable here now."

"Please," she rolled her eyes.

It quieted, as they just gazed at each other. Too many thoughts ran through their minds at that moment, and Kate didn't want any of them to become reality. At least…not just yet.

"Any chance of letting me go?" she looked at him, hopefully.

"Now why would I do that?"

"Because you don't want me."

"I don't?" he said, amused. "Why's that?"

"I'm not good for you."

He laughed. "Oh really?"

"Yes. It's like a tragic story," she started, smiling, as she joked. "The outlaw and the con-man. They constantly fight, and flirt playfully. But even though they might think that they like each other, maybe even _love _each other –" she paused, blushing, and looking at him with all seriousness, "They never make it in the end."

He let her go and she could see he was hurt by her words. But she couldn't feel sorry about it. It was the truth. She sighed. Why did the truth have to be so cold?

* * *

Night started to dawn on them, as the search party reached the end of their search. Sayid had already returned to the caves, and was spending some quality time with Shannon, much to Boone's dismay. Locke was sharpening his knives, and Boone was glaring at Sayid, as he sat with Locke. Only Hurley and Jack were still out on the search.

"Dude…it's getting dark. Shouldn't we head back?"

"No," Jack shook his head. "Not until we find them."

"But it's dark. There's like no chance of finding them in the dark!"

"You can go back. I'm going to search until I find her."

"Oh so this really _is _about Kate. Well I figured, but anyway, the thing is, I have no flashlight."

Jack turned around to him. "So?"

"So…how am I supposed to see?"

"Hurley, I really can't help you. You'll find a way back. Just let the others know that I'm okay and I'll be back later."

"You know, I think I'll just stay with you. 'Cause it's kind of dangerous to be alone, what with that monster and all…"

"Fine."

It quieted finally, much to Jack's relief. All they could hear was the rush of the water pouring and the wind blowing. Jack kept going around and climbing rocks looking for any signs. Hurley tried to follow him, but he was winded after the first few, and sat. Jack paused to wait for him.

"Hey Jack?" Hurley began.

"What?" he answered, getting agitated.

"What exactly is behind waterfalls?" he said, looking at it.

Jack looked at it too. "A wall of rock or possibly a…cave…" he drifted off.

"Oh," Hurley said, now uninterested.

"Come on!" Jack started toward the fall.

"Wait! We're going through _that_?" Hurley said miserably.

"Yeah. I have a good feeling that she's there."

"Of course you do. Let's go in the watery scary cave! Just to find _Kate_."

"And Sawyer," he distractedly corrected him.

They climbed on and through the waterfall…

* * *

After a while, Sawyer was back on his side, and Kate remained in hers. It was quiet, and they both listened to hear movement from the other. But neither of them moved. Sawyer sat, flickering his lighter on and off, and Kate sat, tracing different patterns in the floor.

Hours went by, and still, neither budged. Kate had heard Sawyer getting another beer from the trunk, but that was it. Then it was quiet again. She was hungry, but she didn't want to go over and get anything to eat. Instead, she tried to take her mind off of her hunger and soaked her feet in the water of the mini-fall. Unnaturally, when she dunked her feet in it, weariness overwhelmed her. She fought the urge to sleep, but her head kept drooping. Finally, she gave in, and went to her "bed".

Sawyer sat, still flickering his lighter on and off, and his beer in the other hand. He hadn't taken a sip of it yet, or even opened it for that matter. But he still held it tight. _Just in case, _he thought. His mind kept drifting to different thoughts. He couldn't get rid of the one memory – the kiss he and Kate had shared days ago. He still had no idea what it was all about. And he was rather surprised she never asked about it again. He wondered why she had said she didn't want to get rescued. Was it because of him? Or she just liked the independence from the crowd? Whatever it was, he was sure he'd never truly know.

* * *

Jack and Hurley pushed on, regardless of Hurley's constant complaints. They climbed numerous rocks, and cliffs, and were now at the base of the waterfall.

"So…We're goin' in there?"

"Yeah."

"Completely unarmed?"

"Yeah."

"And there could be like…zombie beasts in there ready to eat us?"

Jack looked at him idiotically.

"Okay, let's go," he said, now looking downward. He whispered to himself, "May the force be with us…"

Jack found a stick and had a lighter with him, and lit it as a torch. They headed into the cave in silence. (Jack was quite thankful.) A while later they reached an area that seemed to be blocked off. Jack let out frustrated sigh.

"Oh well. Guess we gotta go back now!" Hurley said, cheerfully.

"Wait..." he was looking at the mass of boulders curiously. "There," he pointed. "There's a gap there."

"So?"

"We could start there and clear the way." He looked up. "It looks pretty stable and I think we can make it further into the cave."

"Um, dude, can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Are you insane?"

"No," he said shaking his head, still looking at the blocked way.

"Kay. Just checking," Hurley said flatly.

They started to clear out the rocks.

* * *

After what seemed like hours, but was only minutes, Kate awoke. She sat up for a few minutes, remembering where she was. Then she remembered Sawyer was probably still sitting there. She peeked her head out and saw that he seemed to be sleeping. _Now's my chance, _she thought. She crept out to get something to eat.

"Was wonderin' when you were gonna show up again," Sawyer moaned.

She jumped, startled by the sound of his voice. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, then opened them, half glaring at Sawyer.

"_Don't _do that."

"Do what?" he sat up.

"Don't scare me like that."

"Well pardon me, sassafras! Not like I _tried_ to scare you! "

Rolling her eyes, she went to the food trunk and took out one of the pastries and a bottle of water. Then, she went and sat across from him and started to open the wrapped coffee cake. The room was noiseless, except for the rustle of plastic and Sawyer's lighter flickering on and off. Suddenly, Kate put the cake down and looked up at Sawyer. He noticed and it annoyed him the slightest.

"What?"

"I've been wanting to ask…" she started, looking down, then back up at him. "A few nights ago…"

_Oh no. Here it comes, _he thought to himself.

"What was that…Where did it…Why…" she stammered. She had no clue how to ask this.

She was looking down for a long time. Sawyer didn't dare take his eyes off her. He wanted to hear it straight from her mouth. He wanted to answer it exactly how she asked it. But he had no idea what his answer would be. _Well you were upset and I felt bad so I took advantage of you. That's all. _No. He couldn't tell her that. Even if it was partially true. _The truth is I'm in love with you, Freckles. _He definitely couldn't tell her THAT.

Kate interrupted his thoughts by letting out a maddened sigh. He could tell she was having as much trouble as he was. He wanted to make it easier for her, but he couldn't bring himself to utter those words. He sighed too. With that, she knew that he was aware of what she wanted to ask.

"Why?" she whispered.

He looked at her, bewildered. He didn't know what to say and just stared at her blankly. He spent a long while silently debating with himself. Finally, he just decided to tell her the truth. It would be difficult, nonetheless, but he didn't know what else to say.

"Well, I guess the only thing I can say is –"

He was interrupted by a rumbling of rocks again. A few tumbled into the room, but it was mostly dusty smoke. They exchanged worried, uncertain glances then looked back to the mess. There, in the newly made doorway, was Jack.


	13. Chapter 13

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter thirteen of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! jk.)

QuickNote

Thank you fer all yer reviews guys!  
- - - - - - - - -  
You're all gonna hate me for this one...

**Chapter 13**

There he stood, sweaty, frustrated, and covered in dirt. The expression on his face showed that he was surprised to actually find them in the cave; sadness for a moment when he realized they were, unfortunately, together; relief when he saw they were alive.

"Jack!" Kate called out, also surprised.

She got up and ran to him, throwing her arms around him, holding him as tight as she could. He hugged her back, and Sawyer was infuriated. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to Sawyer, they broke apart.

"You're all wet," she laughed.

"Well we _did _have to go through a waterfall," he pointed out, smiling.

"How did you find us!"

"Actually, Hurley was the one who inspired me to come searching here."

"Just a minute!" Hurley called from still inside the tunnel.

Kate smiled. "I'm so glad to see you." She hugged him again.

"I am too. We were afraid you two were dead."

"Yeah. Thought you were monster food," Hurley finally emerged. "So uh, this is where you two have been hiding?"

Kate laughed and broke away from Jack. "It's good to see you too, Hurley."

"Dude! Where did you get the food?"

"It was here, in those two trunks," she pointed. "Along with a lot of other stuff."

"So you finally found us, Doc?" Sawyer broke in, half glaring, half grinning.

"I don't know. Am I standing here or not?"

"Tell me somethin'. What took ya so long?"

"We had to search the whole area so, naturally, it would talk pretty long," he glared at Sawyer. "Not to mention that this place is hidden by a waterfall. It's not everyday someone could easily be found when they're hiding behind a waterfall!"

"Really. And I thought you were smarter than that, Doc!"

"You're lucky I even found you at all, Sawyer! You could've died out here! If it weren't for Hurley and me, you could've starved to death! Some people would be more grateful!"

"YOU LEFT US OUT HERE FOR ALMOST 2 WEEKS! AND YOU WANT ME TO BOW DOWN AND KISS YOUR FEET?"

"Sawyer!" Kate scowled.

"NO! BUT A THANK YOU MIGHT BE A START! THEN AGAIN, I WOULDN'T EXPECT ANYTHING FROM YOU!"

"Jack!" Kate scowled again.

"GOOD! 'CAUSE YOU AIN'T GETTIN' NOTHIN' OUTTA ME ANYWAYS!"

"Dude! I found Twinkies in here!" Hurley disrupted.

They all looked at him as he went back to his great find. Then they turned back to each other. Sawyer and Jack were glaring at each other. Kate hated the sudden tension.

"That's enough out of you two. Do you hear yourselves? You're acting like kids."

"Yeah, whatever," Sawyer muttered, sitting back on his "bed".

Kate then pulled Jack to the other side of the curtain, leaving Sawyer miserably with Hurley who munched happily on his Twinkies.

"I'm sorry," Jack started, softly. "He just could have been more grateful, you know?"

"Jack," she replied, also softly, "This is Sawyer we're talking about. The closest you'll get to a thank you is some sarcastic remark. I wouldn't even bother."

"You're right," he looked down and sighed. Then he looked back at her. "So you're okay?"

"Fine. We had the food and drinks in the trunks, and the water over there helped too," she pointed.

"How on earth did you find this place?"

"It's…a long story."

"Why did you lie to me, Kate?"

"What are you –"

"I asked you if he was telling the truth about finding a cave. You told me he was lying."

She looked down and her face flushed. She didn't know how to answer that.

"Well?"

"I wanted to explore it myself," she lied.

"And how did Sawyer get involved?"

"He followed me," she lied again.

"Kate…" he looked at her with a concerned look.

She sighed, feeling defeated. "We found the area outside this a while ago. The waterfall and the lake it pours into. But –"

"What happened to your head?" he said, as if he hadn't even heard a word she just said.

"Oh. I just bumped it a couple of days ago."

"That's not just a bump."

"It's not?"

"No," he went nearer to examine it more closely. He tilted it to both sides, then looked up to her, still holding her head. "It looks a bit infected. What did you hit it on?"

"I just bumped my head on a rock over there," she pointed to the mini-fall.

He let go of her head and went over with her and looked at the rocks. Then they both saw the jagged one that still had her blood stained on it. He looked down, sighing, disappointed and aggravated. She saw the look on his face when he saw the rock, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"There's a small part of this rock missing," he said miserably.

"It could've just broke off and fell into the water when I hit it," she suggested.

"Maybe, but for all we know, it could be wedged somewhere in your head."

She laughed nervously. "In my head? Wouldn't I have felt it?"

"No. It's only a small piece, so you wouldn't have felt it at all. I can't tell right now, but if it's in deep enough, the infection could spread to your whole body. There could be a concussion too. If that were so, you'd probably be feeling dizzy, and could pass out at any given moment."

She closed her eyes for a brief moment and opened them again, looking down.

"Thankfully, you don't seem to have either of those symptoms," he said, not noticing her. "But I do want to look at it a little closer, and in better light."

"There's more light over there," she pointed at her "bed", which had a torchbearer right over it.

"Okay," he agreed.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the cave, Hurley began to talk to Sawyer, who would much rather he stayed quiet.

"So…you and Kate have been stuck here the whole time?"

"Yeah."

"Did you guys like, do anything?"

Sawyer turned and looked at him like he was crazy.

"Sorry."

They were silent, and Sawyer was trying to hear anything he could from the other side. Unfortunately, he couldn't hear anything, because they were being so quiet. Angrily, he forced his head back against the wall, a bit too hard.

"DAMNIT!" he cried out in pain. "Son of a…" he started rubbing the back of his head.

"Ooh. Hit your head? That's rough."

He just glared at him.

"Sorry," he said again, looking down sheepishly.

Thankful for the quietness, Sawyer rested his sore head against the wall again, gently this time. Finally, he got up and headed toward the curtain. He stopped abruptly before going through them, contemplating whether or not he should go through. In the end, he decided to just go through. He'd make up an excuse once he was there.

He walked through and instantly wished that he hadn't. When he went in, he saw Kate lying on her "bed" and Jack was leaning over her. They had been kissing, and seconds after they realized he walked in, they broke apart. His eyes were bulging from his head, and his blood boiled. He was full of heated rage and could have sworn his heart had stopped at that moment. He saw Kate's face pale when she saw him, and Jack's reddened. Jack swallowed.

"I was just examining her head," he tried.

"And her tongue as well, Doc?"Sawyer almost said aloud. Instead, he said nothing. His eyes glowered at them both. He didn't know what to do. He felt like child's toy – once loved, now broken. Kate's lips trembled and she looked away from him. She knew she had hurt him. _Good, _he thought. He was glad to see that she knew she'd wronged him. He could've beaten the shit out of Jack right then and there, but he just turned around and stormed out. Kate looked down, closing her eyes, and covered her face in her hands.

* * *

Just don't kill me! -crouches away in fear- R-r-eveiw? 


	14. Chapter 14

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter fourteen of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! jk.)

**Chapter 14**

When Sawyer stormed out, Hurley was taken by surprise. He was going to ask what happened, but Sawyer was gone too quickly, after grabbing a few bottles of beer from the trunk. He pushed his way through the debris of the tunnel and was out of that cave, finally. He angrily made is way back into the jungle and walked as far away as he could. Hurley went to Kate and Jack.

"Um…yeah. I hope I'm not interrupting anything but, uh, Sawyer's kinda gone."

Kate sat right up. "What?"

"He kinda just stormed out of here."

Kate quickly got up and grabbed all of her things. She scooped up her backpack and went through the curtain to the trunks. She put 2 bottles of water and snuck a few liquor bottles into her bag too. Then she started to step into the tunnel.

"Kate!" Jack stopped her, and put a hand on her arm. "You shouldn't go out there alone. Especially at nighttime. And your head –"

"Jack, my head is fine. And I'm not afraid of the dark. I'm going," she declared, stepping into the tunnel again.

"Kate!" he called after her again.

She didn't turn around this time, but stopped. He paused for a moment.

"At least let me come with you?"

"I have to do this alone," she responded, looking down.

He sighed. "Be careful, Kate."

She sadly looked at him one last time, and nodded. Then she set off and out of the cave. When she reached the end of the tunnel and was outside again, she took a few deep breaths. She'd forgotten how good the air outside was compared to the stuffy cave. As she walked cautiously around the rocky cliffs, she stopped, looking down at the water. She saw the reflection of the moon, and closed her eyes. At that moment, she couldn't rid herself of the thought of when she and were Sawyer swimming. Her eyes fluttered open at the sound of something flying through a tree. Blinking away the few tears and the thought, she continued on.

It took her nearly two hours to at last get off the cliff, at the slow pace that she picked up after her brief pause. When she was finally off, she stood and took a breath of relief. Then she clicked on the flashlight Sawyer dropped in the mess of the cave and headed into the jungle. It was only minutes later that she started to feel light-headed again. She was staggering a little as she walked, but she tried to fight through it. Regrettably, she could no longer keep herself awake, and fell to the ground.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The next morning, Kate found herself in an unfamiliar place. After sitting up and blinking a few times, she looked to her side and saw a book – Watership Down. She leaned back in disbelief. She was in Sawyer's tent. (Lack of a better word. Sorry.) What had happened? She got up, although her legs felt shaky, and took a short walk down the beach. It wasn't long until she found Jack standing looking out at the water.

"Hi," she said calmly.

"Hey."

"What are you doing?"

He shook his head. "Nothing."

Silence.

"I'm sorry," she finally said.

He didn't say anything or even look in her direction.

"Jack…I should've told you."

"You're right, Kate," he said finally looking at her. "You should have. I wouldn't have had to find you lying on the ground, passed out, in the middle of the night, in the jungle nonetheless."

She looked down.

He let out a nervous chuckle, "You had me worried there for a minute."

She looked at him sympathetically. He started shaking his head.

"You're lucky I found you and brought you here. You could have easily been killed."

She looked up at him, confused. It took her a moment to absorb his words. _He _had brought her here? To Sawyer's tent? She didn't understand. Why would he bring her to his tent? Then it occurred to her, had she ever found Sawyer? Did Jack? And why couldn't she remember? She wanted to ask Jack everything, but she knew this was neither the place nor time.

"It was the only place that was empty at the time. I didn't think you wanted to be brought to the caves," he said, as if he had just read her thoughts.

"You haven't found him then…" she said as if she was telling him rather than asking.

"No."

Silence again.

"I'm sorry, Jack," she tried again.

He nodded, seemingly in acceptance this time. They were quiet again, both standing just staring out at sea. Kate didn't know what to say anymore. She knew he was hurt and she couldn't stand feeling so horribly about it.

He sighed. "How's your head feel?"

"Not so bad," she replied, still looking out at the water.

"I took a better look at it last night."

She looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"It doesn't look good, Kate."

"It's infected?"

He nodded. "And, it looks like you have a concussion."

She looked out at the water again, trying to take it all in. "How do you know?"

He looked away, sheepishly. "I was with you almost all night. I had to wake you every few hours. Make sure you weren't falling into a coma or anything." He laughed silently. "Sorry about that, by the way."

She shrugged. "It's okay. I don't even remember anything after I passed out."

"Well, you weren't exactly happy when I kept waking you up," he grinned at her.

She looked down smiling, almost feeling embarrassed. It was true – she hated to be woken up.

"So, what should I do?"

"Well, normally, I would probably have to take you into OR to remove the stone, since we don't really know where it is. And I would have to give you some antibiotics to kill off the infected cells. But under the current circumstances, I really don't know what I can do."

She nodded, and looked back at the water.

"I don't have access to the proper supplies."

"But there has to be something you could do…"

He shrugged, and exhaled. "The best I could do for you right now is to remove the stone so that the bacteria from it won't infect you any more than it has."

"Sun might know something that can help, right?"

"She might. But what if she doesn't, Kate?"

"I don't know," she said quietly.

He sighed. "If you had told me sooner, we probably could have gotten rid of this before it even spread."

She shook her head. "It was there before you came."

He looked at her, confused.

"I had passed out twice before you showed up. And at one point, I couldn't feel my legs."

He shook his head in disappointment. "Why didn't you tell me when I got there?"

"I didn't think anything of it."

"Well, I can't do anything for you now. The most I can tell you is to rest. And…" he paused, and blushed before continuing. "And someone will have to keep a very watchful eye on you..."

She looked at him, realizing he was looking away, trying to hide the redness of his face.

"It's just to wake you up every now and then. Make sure you're not in a coma or anything, remember?"

"What do you mean _someone_?"

"Normally, I would. But, because it seems that no one can take care of themselves on this island –"

Suddenly they both heard someone screaming.

"Hey! Hey! We need some help over here!"

It was Charlie. He and Hurley were holding Sawyer up by his arms and bringing him toward Jack. Kate's heart was pounding as she saw him. Jack ran toward them and helped them support Sawyer.

"What happened?"

"I don't know! He was just walking over by us!" Charlie said. "He fell. I don't know what happened! He looks pretty beat up!"

"All right. Bring him over here," Jack instructed.

Kate ran over to them.

"What happened?"

"We don't know," Hurley told her.

"Seems like everyone's killing themselves these days," Jack muttered.

She looked from him, to Sawyer as she walked with them. He looked unconscious and there were numerous scrapes on his arms and one on his head. They made their way to his tent and placed him on the two plane chairs that made his bed. Jack knelt beside him and looked at all the scrapes. He looked up at Kate.

"They're nothing really. Just a few scrapes and bruises."

She could tell he was trying to make her feel better about this, but it wasn't working. She felt faint, and thought she might pass out again. She tried to hold her own by leaning against the side of the tent. She watched as Jack pulled each of Sawyer's eyelids open and checked him out. She couldn't even hear when Jack had asked Hurley and Charlie to bring him some water and towels. What was worse was that she knew that these were not effects of the infected wound on her head. Finally, she heard Jack calling her name, and snapped back to reality.

"Kate!"

"What?"

"You all right?"

"Fine. Sorry, I just spaced for a minute."

"Do you have any idea where he might be hoarding the alcohol he had?"

"No."

"Are you sure?" he looked at her, doubtfully.

Instead of answering him, she went to obtain her backpack. When she returned, she sat on the ground and started to unzip it, ignoring Jack's curious expression. She slowly drew out the few bottles of alcohol she took from the cave and handed them to him.

"I took some with me from the cave," she explained.

He didn't question her, but started to open them. He ripped a small piece of his shirt off and drenched it in the alcohol and started to clean off a few of the scrapes on Sawyer's head. Sawyer jolted at the burning on his head, and screamed out in pain.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOIN'?"

"Sawyer, I need you to calm down."

"GET THE HELL OFF ME, DOC!" he shoved Jack away from him.

"He's fine," he told Kate.

"LIKE HELL I AM!"

"My guess is that he passed out drunk last night and now he's hung-over," he explained further, trying to ignore Sawyer's rage.

"How can you be sure?"

"His eyes," he said as if were the most simple thing in the world.

She looked and saw his eyes were dark and somewhat bloodshot. He was glaring at her, and that made her look away. His head was throbbing and he felt like he wanted to throw up. He wanted to sleep all day, but somehow, he knew that wouldn't happen. He didn't realize how shaky he was until he looked down and saw his hands uncontrollably tapping the sides of the chairs. His head was in so much pain now, that he didn't even realize Jack was cleaning his arms.

"Sawyer, how much did you drink last night?" Jack asked, acting professional.

"Get the hell outta here, Doc," he moaned.

"Sawyer, I need to know how much you drank to make sure you're not too –"

"I SAID GET OUT!"

"Fine," Jack said.

Seeing that he had finished cleaning the scrapes anyway, he got up and walked out. Kate got up and started to follow him out.

"Not you," Sawyer said, coldly. "I wanna talk to _you, _Freckles."


	15. Chapter 15

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter fifteen of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! jk.)

-----------------Quickie------------------  
Thanks for all the reviews everyone!  
And no worries. It's NOT turning Jate!  
-------------------------------------------

**Chapter 15**

Kate paused for a minute, looking at him in wonder. She certainly hadn't expected this and now she had no clue what to do. She considered just leaving him, because, of course, he couldn't follow her. But something made her stay there. Feeling as if it were forced, she sat down, as far as she could from him. For a while, they just sat there, looking away from each other, sitting in silence. She looked at him once or twice, but he seemed to be lost in thought. When she looked at him again, she thought he had fallen asleep. Before she could be sure, he turned to her. Her heart started beating rapidly.

"How's your head?" he asked softly.

Taken aback by his concern, she wet her lips to speak. "Fine."

"Hero's looked at it?"

She nodded, rolling her eyes. "Infected and concussion, as if one isn't enough."

"Golly, ain't that great news."

"What did you do last night, Sawyer?" she broke in, quietly.

He looked away from her, appearing to not want to answer that.

"If you're not going to answer me, I'll leave," she tried.

He turned back to her, with a slight look of worry on his face. She knew his weak points. She sat down, cautiously.

"A question for question, Freckles. What were you and Doc doin' last night?" he looked at her sternly. "And don't even try to play like it was the concussion. I know what I saw."

She flushed and looked down. "I don't know," she whispered softly.

Truth be told, she wasn't saying it to answer his question. It was more like she was telling herself she didn't know who she wanted. Jack was reasonably the better choice. He was sweeter, smarter, no doubt, and…he was a doctor. But she was drawn to Sawyer and she couldn't figure out why. He was an arrogant conman who cared for nothing and no one but himself. He tried too hard to be something that he wasn't. So why did that appeal to her?

"Then I don't know either."

She looked up at him, glaring.

"Hey! If you ain't gonna answer me truthfully then why should I?"

She got up and stared at him for a minute, then sharply turned and left the tent. He angrily turned over and hit his head.

"GOD DAMNIT!" he cried in pain. "Son of a…"

He rubbed his head and dozed into a restless sleep.

Several hours later, Kate woke up from passing out again. This time, she had no idea where she was. She was surrounded by trees and realized she was lying on a soft mat of moss and leaves. Rubbing her aching head, she looked around for her backpack, but realized she didn't have it. She began to panic a little and tried to stand up, but everything was spinning. She couldn't move, but remained standing, in a whirl of dizziness. She tried blinking a few times but it made no difference. She felt herself starting to fall backward slowly. But suddenly she felt a pair of arms catch her.

"Hey. Kate, are you okay?" said a voice.

She couldn't tell whose it was, but she knew it was a man's voice. She started to pass out again.

"No. No, Kate, stay with me here," he patted her face gently. "Come on…"

She tried to stay awake, and caught the man's shirt. "I'm sorry…" she mumbled.

"What?"

"I'm sorry, Sawyer…"

"What are you –"

"For what happened with Jack…"

He was silent.

"I didn't mean for it to happen…It just did…" She shook her head, closing her eyes.

"No. Kate, don't –"

"I wish it didn't happen…"

"Really…?"

She nodded then passed out again. Jack gently put her back down on the area of moss and leaves. He hoped her delirium would wear off soon. He didn't want to hear anymore that she had to say, after that. He watched her sleep for a few minutes, then he sat back against a tree, shaking his head, and sighing.

About 10 minutes later, Kate rolled over and sighed, her eyes still closed. Jack looked at her, a little confused.

"I was just kidding about saying I had screwed Jack," she mumbled.

"What?"

"When we were playing truth or dare…"

_More delirium,_ he thought to himself, and remained quiet.

"I was only kidding about that. Jack and I never screwed."

"That's good to know," he muttered.

"Why?" she grinned in her sleep. "Jealous?"

He laughed silently at her. "No."

"Liar."

"Why don't you go back to sleep?"

"I'm not sure if I should be worried about that or not."

He looked at her, surprised. "What?"

"You're being so antsy about me going to sleep. Who knows what you could to do me."

"Trust me, I'm not moving from this spot."

She was silent now.

"Kate?"

She had passed out again.

Only 2 hours later, Kate felt herself being lightly shaken. She moaned softly, and opened her eyes. She looked up to see Jack. He sat back.

"Hey."

She smiled at him.

"Just checking up on you."

"No coma yet," she said sleepily.

He smiled back. "No. A bit of delirium though." He saw the confusion in her face and added, "You were muttering before."

"What did I say?" She sat up.

He shook his head and lied. "Just incoherent mumbling."

"Oh." She paused for a minute to look around. "How long have you been here?"

"A few hours. I found you here when I was heading to check up on Sawyer."

"How is he?"

"I wouldn't know. I never got to him."

She looked down, smiling, trying to hide her face which was slightly pink.

"So what have you been doing all this time that I've been sleeping and talking?"

"Just watching you. Occasionally having a good conversation," he joked.

She shrugged. "At least I wasn't talking to the trees."

He laughed. "That's true."

"You don't have to stay here with me, you know."

He laughed. "Trying to get rid of me now?"

She grinned. "No. But," she stood up. "I think you should check on Sawyer."

"Actually, you're right."

"I'll come."

"I think you need to rest more."

"What? You expect me to rest out here all day?" she teased.

"Of course not."

They both headed back to the beach, lightly talking, trying to keep their moods upbeat. This was only because they both knew that there was bound to be chaos with Sawyer in the next few minutes. A few times, they playfully teased each other, but then they were silent. They were feet away from Sawyer's tent, when Kate stopped in her tracks.

"Kate?"

"Just…a little winded," she said.

"You need more rest. Why don't you head to the caves? I'll deal with Sawyer and then meet you there."

Feeling trapped, she said, "Okay."

She headed into the jungle, and made sure Jack had seen her. When he finally took his eyes off her, she slipped behind a few trees, closer to Sawyer's tent. She wasn't close enough to hear exactly what they were saying. Although she heard a few words, she couldn't make any sense out of 'head', 'stop', and Sawyer's continuous use of 'Doc'. Once or twice, she heard her name pop up, but she couldn't figure out what they were saying about her. She leaned against the tree, waiting for a while. She heard them arguing again after a few minutes of silence, then she heard Jack get up and start walking away. She hid herself behind a tree, just in case, and watched for a long time to make sure Jack was completely out of sight.

As soon as Jack was gone, she slipped out of the jungle, then back on the beach. She headed over to Sawyer's tent, feeling somewhat lightheaded. She slowly walked into his tent, without a word. It took him a minute to finally open his eyes and see her there. For a moment, they just gazed at each other, without speaking.

"Good to see you're sober now," she broke the silence.

"Somethin' I can help ya with, Freckles?" he said, ignoring her.

"No," she said, shaking her head.

"Any special reason you came here, then?"

She tried to think on her feet of some excuse, then she saw her backpack lying feet away from him.

"I left my bag here," she told him, as she started toward it.

He watched her slowly gather her bag, and she walked back to the opening of his tent. She stopped for a minute, and then started to leave him.

"Hey!" he called out to her, and she was thankful.

She turned around.

"Feel like answerin' my question now?"

She walked slowly back into the tent and sat.

"If I say no, are you gonna kick me out again?"

"I never kicked you out to begin with, Freckles. You left on your own."

"You didn't want to answer me. Why should I have stayed?"

"Good question," he groaned, rolling onto his side.

"And now you're turning away from me. I guess I should leave now, too?"

He turned back to her, grinning. "You do whatever the hell you wanna do, sweetheart. I ain't one to stop you." He saw her stare at him, coldly, and muttered, "Certainly couldn't stop ya from playin' tongue tango with Doc."

"Shut up."

"Ooh did I hit a tender spot mentionin' Saint Jack?"

"Come on, Sawyer. What were you doing out there getting drunk?"

"That's none of your business!"

"It is my business. I'm not allowed to worry about you?"

"Aw. That's cute, Freckles. But I'm a big boy and I can take care of myself."

"Like hell you can. If this is what you do when you get angry, then you're doing a great job of killing yourself."

"I'll take that as a compliment," he grinned.

"You're sick."

"I might be. But then, I'm not as sick as you, sweetheart. I wasn't the one who kissed two men in one day."

She just glared at him, and he grinned back, pleased.

"You know, I don't know why I'm feeling guilty about it. I don't even know why I came to apologize."

This time, he glared at her, and she stared back at him, satisfied. They both were silent, Kate waiting for Sawyer to respond, and Sawyer speechless. It took a few minutes to register in his mind that she came to _apologize_. Now he was feeling guilty that he made her feel like she couldn't. All this time he was hoping she would and now he had just turned her down.

"I knew it," he said, sarcastically.

"Knew what?" she said, suddenly intrigued.

"I knew you like Doc better than me."

"What?"

"You coulda just told me when we were playing Truth or Dare, you know. You didn't have to go kissin' the damn guy just to prove it," he joked, trying to keep things upbeat.

She smiled at the ground. "I can barely remember that. I was drunk when we were playing."

"Hell! I know that! Couldn't get you to shut up!"

"I don't know about that. You did a pretty good job of it when you kissed me."

"Thought you couldn't remember?" he retorted.

"Not all of it. But that part, I remember," she told him, smiling the whole time.

"I could refresh your memory, if ya'd like," he toyed.

She laughed a bit, then got up. "Bye, Sawyer."

She headed out of the tent and started walking down the beach. He watched her walking away, until he saw her suddenly collapse.

"Shit…" he muttered to himself.

He got up and ran over to her, and tried to wake her up, but she was out cold. He didn't want to just leave her there, but he didn't know where to bring her. His first thought was to get Jack but then he mentally kicked himself for thinking that. He stood there, helpless for a few minutes, until he finally decided to bring her back to his tent. He carried her over and was thinking about how this happened in the cave the whole time. He placed her gently down on the chairs that he was lying on, and he sat where she had, watching her the whole time.

A few minutes later, Kate stirred and turned toward Sawyer, her eyes still closed.

"I'm cold," she told him.

"What?" he looked at her, confused and startled by the sound of her voice.

"I'm cold."

He looked at her like she was crazy. "What the hell are you talking about? It's a hundred degrees out here, Freckles!"

"I don't care. I'm freezing."

Then he remembered what Jack had said earlier, while he came to check up on him:

"_If you see Kate and she starts talking to you about random things, it's just the concussion. She seems to be delirious a bit." _

"_Golly, Doc. Thanks for the heads up." _

He snapped back to reality when she had asked him an absurd question:

"I'm freezing. Will you hold me?"

"You're delirious, sassafras."

"No, I'm not."

"Yeah, you are."

"I'm not," she muttered.

"Yeah? Prove it?"

"How?"

"Hell if I know! Think of somethin'."

"Forget it," she turned her back to him.

Then he was unsure if she was really rambling or not.

"You're really cold?"

"Freezing cold."

"You _really _want me to _hold _you?" he said, choking back a laugh.

"No," she said softly. "Not if you don't want to."

He started to feel a bit guilty but then she added teasingly,

"I'll just freeze here - all alone on the cold, cold-" she paused. "-chairs."

He got up, sighing, and laid next to her, embracing her in his arms.

"Better?"

She nodded and snuggled into his arms. It was only minutes later that they were both asleep, somehow blissfully in each other's arms.


	16. Chapter 16

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter sixteen of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! jk.)

-----------------Quickie------------------  
So it's not a long one, but thanx for all the reviews!  
And thank you lots to Misty for the great idea(s)

referring to Kate's condition! I realize now that I  
never acknowledged you in the previous chapters.

---------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter 16**

Sawyer awoke, hours later, uncomfortably, and realized why. He was lying halfway off of the two chairs. He tried to push himself more onto them, but couldn't. Then he remembered he was holding Kate. He looked at her, and she was still asleep. He didn't dare disturb her, but just watched her, even though he knew he should have woken her up.

He watched as her eyes fluttered slightly as she dreamed. He watched her chest rise and fall with each breath she took. He watched as she shifted in her sleep, and when strands of hair slid over her eyes, he pushed them away. He couldn't take his eyes off her. She was too beautiful, and she was lying in his arms. He couldn't decide if he was either the luckiest man alive, or unluckiest, because he didn't really know if she _had _been delirious. Suddenly she turned back to facing him and nestled into his arms again. Growing slightly uncomfortable with this, he decided it was time for her to wake up.

"Freckles, time to wake up," he sat up.

She moaned softly.

"Don't you be moanin' at me, sweetheart."

She smiled, her eyes still closed. "I was dreaming…"

"That so?"

She nodded and opened her eyes. "That we were rescued."

"Huh. You really _were_ dreamin'."

"How long have I been out?"

"Don't know. Couple of hours?"

She looked around. "Where's Jack?"

"Probably at the caves, for all I know."

She sat up and then remembered that she was supposed to meet Jack at the caves. She wondered if he was worrying right now, or if he was mad at her for not showing up. She didn't care though. She wasn't particularly fond of the caves anyway. And she wasn't planning to leave from where she was anytime soon.

"Sawyer?"

"What?"

"I'm sorry…"

He looked at her, and she held his gaze. They were the two most beautiful words he had ever heard. Until now, he wasn't sure if she was really sorry or not. But when he looked at her, he saw the pain in her eyes after she said it. It was then that he knew she really hadn't meant for it to happen and this reassured him.

"Don't worry about it, Freckles. Thing of the past."

She smiled up at him, gratefully.

"How's your head treatin' ya?"

"It's…better. I just can't wait until I stop passing out."

"What did the Hero say?"

She smiled sheepishly. "He said I should rest for awhile and not do anything too straining."

"Gotta obey the doctor's orders, then, don't ya?"

"I guess so," she leaned back on the chairs again, folding her hands behind her head.

"Comfortable?" he said sarcastically.

She grinned at him. Then the grin faded away and she looked at him in all seriousness.

"You know what I miss most about being trapped in that cave?"

"The fact that Saint Jack wasn't there?" he muttered.

"He's not so bad, Sawyer. He's a _nice_ guy."

"Yeah? Why don't you try gettin' tortured by him, sassafras, and then we'll talk about how _nice_ he is!"

"Like you're any better!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You're just as bad! You made me kiss you so I could get the inhalers that you _didn't _have!"

"Don't lie, you know you liked it," he joked.

She sighed and looked away. It was eerily quiet again. Sawyer was uncomfortable with this so he tried again.

"All right, what was it then?" he asked, trying to be a bit more considerate.

"What?"

"What did you miss most about that damned cave?"

"The fact that it was like our own little place," she told him. As she continued talking, Sawyer noticed a sparkle in her eyes. "We had all we needed there and the best part was that no one knew where it was. It was…" she stopped to think of a word.

"A hideaway…" he finished for her.

She looked up at him, the sparkle still glistening in her eyes. "Yeah."

"Well we can always go back sometime," he offered.

She shook her head. "It wouldn't be the same. There's no…thrill of it."

Sawyer snickered to himself. "I can think of ten things to make it _twice as _thrilling, Freckles."

"You're horrible," she said, shaking her head, but grinning.

"What? Because I can speak my mind?"

She shook her head, smiling, rolling her eyes. It was quiet for awhile. Kate ended up closing her eyes and Sawyer was under the assumption that she had passed out again. But she proved him wrong, for she was pulling up and down at the flaps that went a quarter of the way down the center of her green shirt. Sawyer couldn't look away. He just kept watching her fingers – sliding up, sliding down, sliding up, sliding down the flaps.

"Truth or dare?" he blurted out, slyly.

She opened her eyes, looking at him like he was crazy. "Not again…"

"Come on, Freckles. Just once more…"

"Fine," she sighed. Then, she mischievously grinned. "Dare."


	17. Chapter 17

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter seventeen of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! Jk!)

**Quickie**

Okay so they're not very long.  
But always worth the wait, I hope:)

**Chapter 17**

He looked at her, a surprised grin spreading across his face and with that realization that she had picked _dare_. She couldn't see him entirely well, because the sun was shining in her eyes. But she could make out the outline of him. She could see his rugged stubble and his sandy blonde hair blowing slightly in the wind. She watched his facial expressions change, as he tried to think of something to dare her. She fought back the urge to laugh at his failing attempts. She was curious and yet excited to hear what he would dare her. She saw his eyes become almond shape, as he grinned mischievously, finally ready to answer.

"So many things I can think of right now, and yet I ain't gonna pick any of 'em."

She raised her eyebrows, stunned. But then she was filled with dread, because he could have thought of something worse. She waited impatiently for him to continue, but he tortured her by just grinning that irresistible grin with the dimples to die for. She started tapping her fingers on the cushion on the left of her, so he couldn't see her growing eagerness. She was feeling winded again, even though she was lying there doing nothing. She hoped he would hurry up before she passed out again.

"All right, all right. I'll tell you already."

She looked at him in confusion.

"Yeah, I saw your fingers tappin'!"

She flushed and looked down, grinning.

"Freckles," he started. She watched his eyes light up as he spoke. "I dare you to go back to that cave."

"What?" she looked at him stupidly. "Are you crazy?"

"Freckles, you picked dare, and the rules say ya gotta go through with the dare, or I can give ya an even worse one," he said, with a trace of cleverness in his voice.

She looked at him, her mouth slightly open. She was trapped. She looked down, and licked her lips, then looked up at him again.

"Are you serious?"

"'Course I'm serious!"

She shook her head. "I don't buy it."

"Don't buy _what_?" he asked, growing a bit irritated.

"You want me to go back to this cave alone? There has to be a catch."

"Well now, I never said I wanted you to go alone, did I?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it. She realized what he meant now. He wanted her to go back to the cave _with him. _

"Why?"

"_Why? _Weren't you just sayin' how much you liked the damn place?"

"Yeah, but I didn't mean I wanted to go back there. I just –"

"Stop thinkin' so much and let's just go."

"Right now?"

"Yeah!" he said, tossing his hands in the air. "Hell! Maybe we can get ourselves stuck in it again!"

She laughed. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"Wouldn't be no problem for me," he grinned.

She hesitated before getting up. "What if I pass out again?"

He stopped himself from speaking aloud. He didn't think of that. _Damn,_ he thought. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to go back there, after all. Before he could think any further, she had answered the question for him.

"I'm sure you can just carry me if that happens, right?" she teased.

"We'll have to see about that, sweetheart."

Surprisingly, it took them a few hours to find the place again. Both of them had forgotten which way to go, and they were both pointing in different directions. They argued a lot, but in the end, Kate finally found tracks of theirs from a few days earlier. Sawyer reluctantly followed her lead, until somehow, he ended up in front. This was only because Kate's energy was running low and she trudged on, still feeling lightheaded.

"_James_," Kate said suddenly, in surprise.

The quietness of the jungle made her voice boom when she said his name. She sounded like ten people instead of just her. Sawyer turned around slowly, focusing his ice cold eyes on her. He hadn't heard his name in years, but to hear her say it infuriated him even more.

"What'd you just call me?" he said quietly, and sternly.

"James," she said, looking at him slyly. "Born July 20th, 1970, in Free Home, Georgia."

"How the hell do you know that, Freckles?" he said, trying to be more at ease despite how tense he felt.

"Your passport," she said, holding it up grinning. Then, she started to walk past him, holding it out to him. "You need to find a better hiding spot than your back pocket."

He snatched it away and put it back into his back pocket.

"Yeah, well you need to get a better excuse to grab my ass, sweetheart."

She rolled her eyes. 'You really know how to make a girl feel special, Sawyer."

He just grinned as they started walking again. It wasn't much longer until they reached their destination. For some reason, it seemed like they got through the waterfall faster than last time.

By the time they were in the cave, neither of them had any recollection as to how or when they got in. Neither of them could remember how they ended up on the floor kissing passionately, vigorously. Neither could remember how the curtains came to be torn down either. In fact, neither of them even realized they were _lying _on the torn down curtains, both somehow having lost their shirts. Their eyes were filled with each other and that was all they wanted.

Kate was just starting to unzip Sawyer's jeans when the room started to rumble. They both sat up, wide-eyed, looking around. Then they looked at each other. Kate noticed he had his arm around her, probably for safety. She was glad though – she had felt safer.

When the rumbling started to dull, Sawyer let go of her and got up. He zipped his pants again and headed into the tunnel. Kate wanted to go after him, but she couldn't get up. Not to mention the rumbling room, itself, was already making her dizzy. She waited a few minutes, only hoping. When the cave stopped shaking, she didn't dare take her eyes off the entryway.

Finally, Sawyer emerged, waving dust out of his face and coughing horribly. He looked at her let out a breath of relief. He found her concern for him cute and couldn't help but grin. But then, strangely, the grin faded away.

"So, I got some bad news and worse news. Which d'ya want first?" he asked, as Jack stepped through behind him, coughing.


	18. Chapter 18

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter eighteen of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! Jk!)

**Chapter 18**

As soon as Kate saw Jack, she hurried to put her shirt back on. Unfortunately, he was too quick and soon realized what was going on. He looked away.

"Jack!" she said, feeling caught. "What…What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same for you," he shot.

As Sawyer went to put his own shirt on, Kate stood speechless. She tried to think of something to say, but only drew a blank. Jack sighed trying to forget his anger.

"I got worried when you didn't show up at the caves. After I looked everywhere else, this was the only place I could think of," he explained. "Although, I was honestly kind of hoping you wouldn't be here."

"Well don't worry Doc!" Sawyer said putting an arm around Kate. "I've been takin' _good_ care of her." He grinned.

Kate looked up at him glaring, rolling her eyes. However, she failed to shove his arm off. She looked down sighing as Jack started to walk around examining the rest of the cave. Then she looked back up to Sawyer, who finally let go of her.

"So what's the bad news?" she asked him quietly.

"That he's here," he joked grimly.

She rolled her eyes. "And the worse news?"

"We're trapped in here," Jack said before Sawyer could. "Most of the tunnel collapsed when I was coming in."

"Good job, Doc," Sawyer muttered.

"About four yards of rock block our way out," he told her, ignoring Sawyer's comment.

"We'll be like one big happy family!" Sawyer said sarcastically.

Both Kate and Jack rolled their eyes.

"So where you gonna sleep, Doc? With Freckles? 'Cause I think I got that spot reserved."

"You think so?" Kate looked at him disgustedly.

He grinned, sitting on his, once again, "bed".

"I'll give you some of my blankets," she said, facing Jack again. "I have more than enough anyway."

"Hell! Take 'em all! I already said Freckles can come share my bed!"

She looked at him warningly. He only smirked.

"You can have some of mine," she repeated, still looking at Sawyer.

"Thanks," Jack said, flatly.

They were all quiet now. Sawyer pulled out his cigarettes and started to light one. Kate looked around the cave.

"Maybe we should put the curtains back up…" she suggested.

"What for?" Sawyer asked, annoyed.

"Privacy," she glared at him.

"Well pardon me, sassafras. Didn't realize you were so secretive!"

She stared at him for a full minute, and he could see the hurt in her eyes. He had no clue why though. She flushed and she and Jack exchanged glances. She hoped Sawyer hadn't seen. She really didn't feel like answering his questions right now.

"What was _that_?"

"What was what?" she said, looking at Jack quickly, then back to Sawyer.

"Doc know somethin' I don't?"

"What are you talking about?" Jack cut in.

"You two just looked at each other like you got a dirty little secret."

"You're crazy, Sawyer," Kate answered, kneeling in front of the burnt out fire, trying to get one going, only to hide her nervousness.

"Here. Let me help," Jack offered.

He crouched next to her and slid his hands over hers, trying to help her start it. He looked over at the ashy embers.

"You're gonna need more wood," he warned, pulling away and leaning back on his knees.

Furiously, Sawyer knocked over the trunk of bones, and some spilled out. He was glad to be able to ruin their little moment.

"It's what we used for those two weeks," he said, accusingly.

"Week and a half," Kate corrected, getting fed up with Sawyer's angry act.

"Whose bones are those?" Jack asked cautiously.

"Hell if we know! They were there when we got here." He stopped to take a drag of his cigarette. "Was a hell of a lot more when we first got here."

"You've been burning human bones?"

"It was the only thing available," Kate explained.

"I tried getting Freckles to burn her clothes," Sawyer said, leaning his back against a wall. "But the girl don't listen!" he pretended to be annoyed.

Kate just looked at the fire, grinning at his joke. She knew she shouldn't have, but she couldn't help it. Then she raised her eyebrows at Jack who was looking at her in disbelief for grinning at the comment. It was awkwardly quiet once again. Kate quickly got up, as Jack followed with his eyes.

"So, I'm going to put the curtains back up," she stated.

"I'll help," Jack offered quickly, and they both hurried to the blankets.

Sawyer sunk back even more into the wall. What else could he do? He tossed his cigarette in the fire and watched it burn.

They worked together slowly and quietly to get the curtains up. Kate's fingers kept fumbling over the rocks when she was trying to tuck the blanket into the wall.

"You all right?" Jack asked.

"Fine," she looked away, nervously.

"You seem a little jittery. Maybe you should take a break."

She shook her head. "I'm fine."

He grabbed her hands and pulled them away, forcing her to look at him. She blinked a few times and he saw that was breathing hard, and her eyes were filling with tears.

"Kate, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. The dust…it's getting to me."

She turned to go back to the curtains pulling her hands away, but he pulled back.

"When was the last time you passed out?"

She looked down, shaking her head.

He pulled her head down to examine it again, but she pulled away. He looked at her, puzzled.

"I'm fine…"

"No, you're –"

"Jack, please…" she whispered, shaking her head.

"Kate…" he looked at her sadly. "I just want to help you…"

She shook her head and took a few steps backward, looking down. Confused, he stared at her. After a long time, she turned around, tears in her eyes, and sat on one of the rocks near the water. He watched her sitting there staring at the water falling.

After a while, he let her be, and went back to putting the curtains up. This time he decided to have the fire on her side, and the boys would make a new one on theirs. When he was done, he went and sat by Sawyer.

"Where's she?" Sawyer wondered.

Jack just shook his head. Sawyer looked at him questioningly, but Jack didn't answer. Instead of pushing him for an answer, Sawyer opened the trunk of liquor and took out two beers. He sighed and held one out to Jack, half expecting Jack to decline. Jack, however, looked at it for a moment, then took it.

"Something tells me you're not too thrilled with the fact that I'm here," Jack tried.

"You sure you're a doctor and not a mind reader?" Sawyer joked.

Jack smiled and shook his head. "I'm sure."

"Lemme take a wild guess and say that you ain't too happy to be here either, Doc."

"Can't say that I am. But then again, things could be worse."

"Yeah, how?"

"For one thing, we could be stuck in the jungle somewhere with that monster."

Sawyer nodded, seemingly in agreement. He took a swig of his beer.

"And we have provisions," he reminded Sawyer. He too, took a swig of his beer.

"Yeah. Thank god for this," Sawyer raised his bottle, taking another sip.

Jack sniggered and took two more drinks, before lowering his bottle onto the ground. He then looked at Sawyer, completely serious.

"You've probably been around her more than I have. How has she been?"

"What do you mean?"

"In terms of her head?"

"Oh. _That_," he said, reluctant to be on the subject. "Been passin' out all over the place. Lucky I'm there to catch her."

Jack nodded. "How long since she last passed out?"

"Earlier. Before we got here. Been fine since then, though."

"Good."

They were silent again. Without realizing it, they simultaneously took sips of their drinks, then put them back on the ground and sighed. Unexpectedly, Kate peeked out of the curtain.

"Jack?" she called softly.

He looked at her and their eyes locked. He read her expression and went over to her, where they both disappeared behind the curtains. Sawyer, feeling alienated, helped himself to another mini bottle of liquor, seeing as his beer was already gone.

When Kate pulled Jack to her side of the cave, she planned to tell him why she was really freaking out. But she had no idea how hard it was going to be. She didn't realize until after he was there, that she would be hurting him by telling him. And hurting him would hurt her too. There was no easy way around it, as hard as she tried to find one. Now that he was here, she was having second thoughts. How would things be between them? Would they be able to stand living together for a few days in this cave if she told him? In the end, she told herself she couldn't tell him. At least not here, not now, and not while Sawyer was only feet away.

They stood facing each other, a few feet between them. Jack waited patiently for her to speak, and she just looked up at him, not knowing where to start. Finally, she took a deep breath and began.

"I just…I wanted to apologize for before."

"Don't worry about it," he assured her.

"No. You were just trying to help. And I don't blame you. I guess I just haven't been myself lately."

"Well, a concussion will do that to you," he smiled.

She smiled back, weakly. "I just want you to know, I don't want you to stop trying."

He looked at her for a moment, then smiled. She smiled back.


	19. Chapter 19

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter nineteen of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! Jk!)

Quickies:

LOL I can see how you all thought she was pregnant at the end of that one. That would be a fun twist, wouldn't it? But I'm not going to comment on that right now...:P  
As for your question, KnightoftheRoundTable, when she said "I don't want you to stop trying", she was referring to him helping her. If you reread that part again, you see before she says that, she says "No. You were only trying to help, and I don't blame you." Or something close to that. Basically, she was saying she didn't want him to stop trying.  
SO ANYWAY,  
Here's a very enjoyable chapter for you all, and it will have to last for the next 4 days because I'm going to visit my friend and I'm leaving tonight. But tons of reviews when I get back would be nice:P

* * *

**Chapter 19**

(Sidebar: So somehow, it turned into sorta nighttime. Don't question it. It just kind of happened.)

While they were having their small chat on the other side, Sawyer was busy trying to catch up on some lost sleep. Of course, as luck would have it, they came out just as he was drifting into a deep sleep. As soon as he heard the curtain shuffle, he opened his eyes and sighed.

"You all done with your little chit chat now?"

"Yeah, we're done," Jack told him.

"Good. Now how's about we get to figurin' out how we're gonna get outta here? _Again_."

"Positive attitude would be a good start," Kate snapped at him.

"Easy, Freckles. Ain't no use in gettin' snippy."

Jack sat down in front of the fire, opposite from where Sawyer was sitting on his "bed". Kate took a seat generally in the middle of them. She avoided eye contact with Sawyer, and he noticed it. In fact, it frustrated him. It told him that either something was going on with Jack, or Jack knew something more than he did. He didn't want to aggravate himself anymore so he kept quiet after that and let Kate and Jack do the talking.

"Well, I suppose we could take turns digging it out?" Jack offered.

"But what if the whole cave collapsed while we were digging?" Kate disagreed.

"That's true. I didn't think of that. I think it has to be dug out from the outside," he said, rubbing his head.

"But no one will ever find us here! Nobody else knows about this place!"

"Hurley does."

Kate was quiet now, shaking her head looking at the fire.

"Sooner or later, people will come searching for us. And I'm sure he'll remember to look here."

"Well what're we supposed to do until then, Doc?" Sawyer interrupted.

"Be stuck, I guess."

"But Jack, we're not exactly fit to stay here longer than…" she paused. "A few days, maybe a week, tops. Food and drink is becoming scarce."

"Not to mention we're runnin' outta bones," Sawyer said smugly.

"Not if we kill _you, _Sawyer," Kate teased, but with a straight face.

He looked at her, hurt, but glaring.

"Calm down, I'm only kidding."

"Yeah, sure you are."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He looked over at Jack, who was poking at the fire. Kate saw and looked at him too, and understood. Sawyer had hinted they'd talk later when Jack wasn't around. He hated that Jack was here. If he hadn't poked his big nose in their business, they wouldn't be stuck, and they wouldn't have been interrupted. Of all times, he had to pop in when they were just getting cozy. Since when was a doctor more interested in a girl than keeping other people healthy and _alive_?

Jack took another drink of his beer, and Kate folded her arms looking at him.

"A doctor drinking alcohol. How professional."

"A criminal on the run. How original," Jack teased back.

Sawyer snorted at his failed attempt at a joke. But Kate wasn't amused by his joke at all. Instead, she was hurt. When he looked up and saw Kate looking away and slumping down against a wall, he mentally kicked himself and looked away. Sawyer, however, was glad that Jack screwed up. It was about time. Not to mention it had ruined the bond between him and Kate, which, in Sawyer's opinion, was good news.

"Good one, Doc," Sawyer muttered, grinning.

"Shut up, Sawyer," Jack said quietly.

"You sure got a way with words," Sawyer continued, ignoring Jack.

"Sawyer I'm warning you –"

"Is that how you always pick up ladies? Makin' 'em feel bad?"

"Sawyer, shut the hell up now or –"

"Or what, Doc? You gonna get Mohammad to give me another manicure?"

Kate slumped even further down against the wall, unable to bear the two bickering back and forth.

"'Course, we all know how well that went," Sawyer kept on.

"I swear, Sawyer –"

"In the end, I'd say it worked out just fine, for me, but then Sayid had to go and walk off his shame. Couldn't handle it," he kept talking to himself. "And then that French chick tortured him. Got a taste of his own –"

But suddenly Sawyer was cut off by a swift blow to the face. He wiped his lip and looked up, seeing Jack standing with his fist clenched.

"Jack!" Kate screamed.

"That all you got, cowboy?" Sawyer glared up at Jack. "C'mon. I know you been waitin' forever to do that. You gotta have more in–"

Another blow, this time hitting his nose. Jacks fist was now covered in blood, as well as Sawyer's face. Sawyer growled and got up, shoving his fists into Jack's stomach, forcing him to the ground. Sawyer was punching his face, angrily. Jack punched upward, knocking Sawyer off of him. He was on top of Sawyer now, punching him rapidly in the face, ignoring Kate's protesting screams. Sawyer thrust his knee up and into Jack's ribs, and Jack rolled off him, clutching his side in pain. Sawyer spit some blood out of his mouth, and then looked angrily at Jack. Jack looked back at him, furious. Then he got to his knees, and punched Sawyer again, right in the gut. Sawyer fell back shouting in agony. Jack was on him again, punching, until Kate ran over and pulled Jack off of him, with all the strength she could muster.

Sawyer sat up, wiping his nose and mouth of blood, still glaring angrily at Jack. Jack was being held up by Kate holding his arm.

"What on earth is wrong with you two!" she shouted.

Sawyer looked away, and Jack just looked down, still holding his side in pain. It was quiet, and none of them looked at each other. Kate sighed, frustrated, and helped Jack to his feet. Then they went to her side of the cave, and Sawyer sat there, in pain, both physically and emotionally.

Kate helped Jack over near the minifall. When he sat down, she went and retrieved a few towels from her overflowing pile of blankets. She dipped one in the water, and folded it twice. Then she put it on Jack's head.

"What the hell was that?"

"I'm sorry," he told her, putting his hand over hers, to hold the towel on his head tighter. "It's just, he was asking for it, Kate! It's like he wanted it."

"That doesn't mean you should go and try to kill him, Jack," she said, removing her hand and dipping a few more towels in the water.

He watched her get up and walk briskly through the curtains. She stopped before continuing any further, when she saw Sawyer sitting on his "bed", knees up, smoking another cigarette. She looked at him, sympathetically, then walked over. He blew away the last inhale he'd taken, and looked up at her. She looked down, then back at him. Then, she sat next to him.

"Are you okay?" she said, softly.

"I'm fine," he said, irritably.

She rolled her eyes and put the wet towel over his whole face. "Liar."

He pulled the towel off his face and started wiping his nose and chin. After a few minutes, he managed to clean his face pretty good. Except…

"Wait," Kate said, grabbing another towel. "You missed a spot."

She folded the towel and started to clean the cut on his head that he had missed. He looked at her while she was wiping, and found himself fighting temptation. When she finished, she looked at him too, then looked down bashfully. They looked away from each other and were quiet. Kate unfolded the towel and threw it aside.

"It's not his fault what happened," Sawyer said, still looking away. "I egged him on."

"I know," she said quietly. "But he shouldn't have come at you like he did."

He shrugged and they were quiet again. She folded her arms and looked at him, wearing a small grin.

"So what did you mean before?"

"What?" he asked confused.

"I don't know," she shrugged looking down. "You said something when I was teasing you."

"Oh. I didn't think you were kidding."

"Why?"

"I dunno," he looked away blushing.

She laughed. "Yes you do. You're blushing."

"No I ain't!" he blushed more.

She smiled and looked down, then back up at him. Suddenly her eyes were wide, and her smile wider.

"Now I know why!"

He looked at her, his eyes wide, bewildered.

"You think –" she broke off laughing. "Trust me, Sawyer, nothing's going on between us."

He knew she had figured it out and felt his face heat up. Then he realized what she had said: "Nothing's going on between us". He looked at her in surprise, and she laughed at the expression on his face.

"After how all this started out, before he even came, and you still thought –"

"All right, all right! We can stop raggin' on me now!"

She looked at the fire, still smiling.

"Glad you think this is all so hilarious!"

She shoved him playfully. "Don't be so uptight."

Neither noticed Jack was peeking out of the curtains, watching them. Kate was laughing and Sawyer seemed to be annoyed. He saw her shove him and he grinned and said something to her. She looked at him, pretending to be insulted and turned away folding her arms. Jack couldn't tell but it looked like Sawyer was trying to apologize…or something of the sort. Kate still wouldn't turn back to Sawyer, although Jack could see she was smiling.

It was weird to see Sawyer's soft side so openly. Jack was surprised by Sawyer's daring behavior with Kate. He watched as Sawyer tried again, but this time, tickling Kate. She was laughing so hard she couldn't keep her balance and fell backward into him. He kept tickling her and she begged him to stop. Jack finally stopped watching them when he saw Sawyer's hand going up Kate's shirt, tickling her stomach.

"Sawyer!" she hissed, slapping his hand.

"What?" he asked, grinning, innocently.

"What're you doing?" She slapped his hand again, and this time, he removed it.

"Nothin'! I was ticklin' you!"

"You went up my shirt!" she accused.

"And…?"

"You're unbelievable."

They were arguing again, but moments later they found themselves kissing. Just as Sawyer was getting into it, Kate pulled away.

"Hey. What gives?"

"We can't," she said, shaking her head.

"Why not?" he said, annoyed.

"Because! Jack's right on the other side!"

"So! He'll be fine by himself!"

He went to kiss her again, but she turned away.

"No."

"C'mon."

"We'll be too loud."

"Oh so you're a loud one?" he grinned, looking at her cleverly.

She narrowed her eyes at him. He looked away rolling his eyes. Why was she being such a nuisance? He knew she wanted it too. It was that damn Jack. He had to ruin everything.

"It's not like there's a lot of space between the two sides," she told him.

"So?"

"So, would _you _want to be in his shoes? What if it was him and me, and you were on the other side? Would you really want to hear that all night?"

He laughed, but kept the remark to himself. "I honestly wouldn't give a damn, Freckles."

She looked at him giving him an "Oh really?" look. He looked back at her, with confident eyes. It was a short stare down before Kate finally stopped.

"You're telling me, that if I was with Jack right now, in the same position as I am with you now, you wouldn't care?"

"Nope."

"You wouldn't care that it was _Jack_?"

He paused. He finally saw what she was trying to ask. She had caught him. Damn. She really knew how to work him. She knew his weak spots, she knew his soft spots, hell, she knew every damn spot on his body. Well…almost. How the hell did she manage it? He hated to say it, but sometimes the girl drove him crazy.

"And that answers that," she said, victoriously, seeing as he wasn't answering.

"Yeah, well…whatever."

Silence.

"Oh come on!" Sawyer pleaded.

"You're that desperate?" she teased.

"Damn right I am! Wouldn't have to be beggin' if _he _didn't show up."

She looked away, shaking her head.

"Freckles, you know you want it too!"

She glanced at him sideways. "Excuse me?"

He leaned closer and whispered in her ear. "You can't deny it."

The feeling of his breath on her neck sent a tremor through her whole body. She fought the tremendous urge to kiss him. He was right there, and all it would take is a slight turn of her head. She breathed unsteadily, and kept looking down. She couldn't and wouldn't give in.

"We both know it," he whispered into her neck again.

More chills running down her spine. The feeling wouldn't leave her. Then she felt something sliding up her back. As it went higher, she could feel the shape of Sawyer's hand. She turned to him, slightly angry.

"Sawyer!"

Before she could go any further, he grabbed her and kissed her and she kissed him back. After only minutes, they fell backward onto Sawyer's "bed". Just as Sawyer started up her shirt, she pulled away again. He groaned, and sat up, looking away from her.

"We can't," she repeated, looking at his back.

"Truth or Dare?" he tried.

"Nice try," she laughed.

"Fine. Then I'm gonna go to bed."

"You are?" she said, sitting up, starting to feel worried.

"Ain't nothin' better to do," he glared, leaning back onto his "bed".

She rolled her eyes. "Come on. Don't go to bed yet."

"You got a good reason for me to stay awake?"

She looked down. "I'm not a good enough reason?"

"At the moment?"

She looked away, scowling. When she didn't say anything else, he leaned back on his "bed".

"Sawyer, don't make me sit here alone."

"I'm not makin' you do anything, princess," he closed his eyes.

She sat, feeling defeated. She didn't want to go to sleep yet. But she didn't know what to do. At first, she just stared into the fire, sort of watching it burn. Then she looked over at Sawyer, who seemed to have quickly fallen into a deep sleep. She watched him sleep for a little while. She wasn't entirely sure he was really asleep. She tested him, by lying on her side next to him, staring right at him. He was silent. She didn't move, just kept watching. Nothing. Kept watching.

"Christ, woman. Are you gonna let me sleep, or are you gonna tease me all night long?" he said, his eyes still closed.

She laughed. "Haven't decided yet."

"Lemme decide for you," he said, rolling onto his other side, facing away from her.

She sat up, leaning on her arm. She sat thinking for a minute or two, then got up and went over to the other side. She sat right in front of him. He sighed.

"What the hell do you want from me?"

"Stay awake with me. I know you're not really asleep anyway."

"What the hell for?"

"I don't know. You'll think of something," she grinned, mischievously, then got up and sat by the fire.

He sat up, frustrated with her now, but even more frustrated that he couldn't get back to sleep. He got up and walked over.

"I can only think of one thing," he told her, sitting down. "And you ain't into it."

"You know, for once, could you stop thinking dirty thoughts and just have a normal conversation? Is that possible for you?"

"Probably not. At least not right now."

"God. Does every other thing out of your mouth have to be so obscene?"

"Well at least it ain't _everything_," he smirked.

"You know what? Forget it. I'm just going to go to bed now."

"Fine!"

"Fine." she stood up, shrugging.

"Fine!" he said, standing up, mocking her.

"Fine!" she said, putting her hands on her hips, knowing Sawyer wouldn't copy.

To her surprise, he did. "Fine."

She laughed, and folded her arms. She took a few steps toward him, and said in a softer tone, "Fine."

He looked down at her, his eyes narrowing and a small grin on his face. "Fine," he whispered back.

She stood up on her tiptoes, and whispered right into his hear, purposely breathing on his neck, "Fine."

His heart was pounding now. He could barely stay standing upright, with her breathing into him like that. She was toying with him horribly. She was such a tease. If she uttered one more "Fine" into his ear, he was sure he would lost his balance. He didn't know why he didn't just kiss her right then. She was close enough now, but something held him back. It was almost as if he _had _to wait for the next "Fine" before he could just scoop her into his arms.

She looked up at him, waiting for the next "Fine" but he just stared down at her. She was afraid of what he might try to do next, so instead, she finished the battle off. She looked down and whispered,

"Good night."

He looked at her, disappointed. She slowly started walking away. Sawyer tried to think of something, but nothing came to him.

"Kate," he called out, quietly.

She turned around, stunned to hear him use her name. She swallowed, and blinked a few times, before looking at him. He was glad to see her upset to be going to bed. He wanted to find a way to make her stay, but she wouldn't stay up with him for what he wanted. He looked down, then back at her. He shrugged.

"Good night."

She looked at him sadly, then turned around, retreating through the curtain. He rolled his eyes and sighed irritably. He laid back on his bed, his hands folded behind his head, but never fell asleep. On the other side, Kate lied curled up on her own "bed". She couldn't fall asleep either, and it wasn't because of Jack's light snoring.


	20. Chapter 20

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter twenty of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! Jk!)

Quickie:

Another shorty. But evil! Muahahahahah:P  
I think they're a little out of character in this one…  
But that's okay, isn't it?

**Chapter 20**

The morning seemed to dawn on them quicker than usual. Sawyer finally fell asleep, an hour before it was dawn outside, but Kate never did. When she figured it had to be morning, she sat up. The first thing she saw was Jack, sleeping peacefully a few feet from her. She looked at him sadly, knowing that every minute they were on this island, she was hurting him. She wished she could get up the courage to tell him that they'd never be. She didn't want to, but she knew he had to know, sometime. She silently cursed at herself for not telling him so last night, but it was too hard. With all the tension there was already, she didn't think it was a good time to shove that in his face.

Finally, she gave up dwelling on her thoughts. She got up, dusting off the dirt that somehow managed to find its way onto her clothes. She looked at Jack one last time, before pushing through the curtains. She half expected Sawyer to be awake already, but when she saw him still asleep, she was glad. She wanted to make breakfast for the three of them, and try to bring peace back to the cave. But then she realized that there was only dried meat, bread, and pastries in the trunk.

She went and opened the trunk, taking out a few things that she figured could be used, but then she saw something small and white at the bottom. _Is that what I think it is… _she wondered. As she removed more things, she realized there was more than one. Finally, when nothing else remained, she found a mass of eggs at the bottom. She wondered if they were spoiled or not, and took one out to see. Thankfully, it seemed to be okay – it didn't crack or break in her hand. Just to be certain, she cracked it on the side of the trunk and broke it in half perfectly, without letting any white or yolk spill out. The egg was perfect. She laughed silently, at the irony of it.

Soon, she started up a new fire and found a rock near the water to cook on. It wasn't long after she started cooking that Sawyer woke up from the fumes. He groaned and sat up, rubbing his face. He looked over and saw Kate looking strictly down at her work. That had to be forced, he thought. He rubbed his hand through his hair, then walked leisurely over.

"Mornin'," he mumbled.

"Good morning," she said, still not looking up.

"What's this?" he gestured to her cooking the eggs.

"It's called breakfast, Sawyer."

"I _know _that."

"Then why'd you ask?"

He looked away for a minute, annoyed. "I meant –"

"I know what you meant," she laughed. "I just thought maybe we could all try to start over and be _nice_ to each other."

"Gonna take a lot more than breakfast to make me get along with Jack-ass."

"Well the least you could do is try."

"Yeah well, we'll see. So, what'd, you lay these eggs?"

"What are you implying?" she looked up at him, faking a glare.

"I ain't implyin' anything. Just wonderin' where they came from."

"They came from the trunk," she pointed. "At the bottom."

"How do you know they ain't spoiled?"

"Because I checked," she assured him.

"So," he said trying to change the subject. He rubbed his head, which was unusually aching, "How did _you _sleep?"

"Fine," she lied quickly. "You?"

"Was in too much pain. Barely slept," he said, crankily.

"It shows," she said, poking fun at him.

"_Funny._"

She grinned at the food. Jack came out wearily, and saw Kate grinning, kneeling before the fire cooking what looked like…eggs? She looked up and saw him.

"Good morning," she said brightly.

"Hey. Uh, what's all this about?"

"Well we have to eat, Jack," she looked up at him, smiling. "And I was hoping maybe we could all start over and be _nicer _to each other."

Jack looked to Sawyer, who was looking away. She looked at him too.

"Or at least TRY to be?"

"Of course," Jack nodded, although he despised the idea.

She smiled, grateful. "So, I made eggs and cooked some of that boar meat," she motioned toward a plate of brown meat.

"Looks good," Jack said, trying to be appreciative.

"It'd better," she warned, jokingly.

He sat down, grabbing his aching side. Kate looked at him in concern.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine. Just a little pain…from yesterday," he said, lowering his voice at the end.

She looked down at her cooking again, not wanting to continue the conversation for fear of an outbreak.

"Kate," he said in a low voice. "You know you don't have to do this."

"I'm not doing this for you, Jack," she said aloud.

He looked at her, hurt. Sawyer, on the other hand, grinned to himself, and accidentally chuckled out loud. Jack looked at him, almost glaring.

"Not for you either, Sawyer," she said, not even looking up at him.

This time, Sawyer was hurt, and Jack grinned at him, triumphantly.

"I'm doing this because we need to eat," she told them, trying to restrain herself from laughing. "If we don't, we'll die."

Both men looked stupidly to the ground.

"I just thought we could all eat _together _and try this again," she looked at them both, her eyes full of hope.

In response, Jack sat down next to her. Sawyer saw right through the act - he was only trying to please Kate. _Well two can play this game, _he thought to himself, and sat next to her on the other side. Kate suddenly looked at her finished work sadly.

"I didn't get as far as thinking of what we could use to eat on."

"Why don't ya just get more of those rocks?" Sawyer offered, as he saw Jack about to say something.

"Actually, that's a good idea."

Sawyer smirked victoriously, and Jack frowned at him angrily. When she went to go get two more rocks, Jack turned to Sawyer, and stared wordlessly.

"If I were you, Doc, I'd back off."

"Excuse me?"

"Freckles might not see through your little act, but I can."

Jack laughed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm tellin' you now, Jacko," he said, dragging out the 'O'. "This fight ain't over, and I ain't givin' up until I win her."

Jack glared at him. "That makes the two of us then."

Sawyer laughed maliciously. "You haven't got a clue, have you?"

Jack looked at him, curiously.

"She wants nothin' ta do with you, cowboy!"

"Yeah, well we'll see about that," Jack said, annoyed.

When Kate returned, she saw them both glaring at each other. She placed the rocks down in front of them, cautiously, then stood, her arms folded, looking at them both.

"What did I miss here?"

"Nothing," Jack said, still glaring at Sawyer. "We were just trying to make a compromise."

"Yeah," Sawyer agreed.

"Looks promising," she said sarcastically.

She sat again, and served the food. She looked at them both, still glaring at each other, and seeming to tear through their food angrily. She shook her head and sighed. It was going to be a _very long_ stay.


	21. Chapter 21

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter twenty one of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! Jk!)

Quickie:  
Umm...Well I tried to make a BIG FIGHT...but it didn't work...But I hope this chapter is satisfying enough.  
By the way, anonymous reviews are enabled now. I didn't realize they were disabled. Sorry bout that! )

**Chapter 21**

After a somewhat pleasant but eerily silent breakfast, Sawyer and Jack offered to clean up, since Kate had done all the cooking. She laughed because the so-called "clean up" only consisted of putting the rocks back. Nevertheless, they put the rocks back, but of course, broke into quarrel as they did so. Kate hurriedly ran to split them up. When she got to the scene of the crime, she found Sawyer dripping wet from the waist down, and Jack standing feet away, with a hand ready to punch.

"What the hell is going on here!" she said, stepping between them.

"Ask _him_," Sawyer said, viciously.

She turned to Jack, who was still glaring at Sawyer, and seemed ready to lunge at any moment.

"Jack?" she folded her arms.

"He _fell _into the water when he was putting the rock back."

"LIKE HELL I DID!" Sawyer shouted, lunging at Jack.

It took all of Kate's strength but she held him back.

"_Come _on! Can't we please just get along here!" she said, half-glaring at Sawyer.

"Hell no! If Doc's gonna play dirty, then I say two can play that game!" he went to lunge again, but Kate held him back.

"I wouldn't have pushed him if he hadn't tried to punch me!" Jack said, unaware of what he had just said.

Kate swung her head toward Jack and folded her arms. He looked down, guiltily.

"Very nice, Jack. How very fifth grade of you."

She shook her head, disappointed and angry at the same time. Sawyer, meanwhile, grinned, enjoying the show. He couldn't help but admit how nice it was to see 'Ol Jacko fall facedown.

"And you!" she turned to Sawyer.

He looked at her, surprised, and caught off-guard.

"Why were you going to punch him?"

"You really need an answer to that one, Freckles?"

She looked at them both, her expression full of disgust. They were behaving like such children. It sickened her.

"I guess it was just too much to ask you two to get along," she said, glaring, as she stormed out to the other side.

"Good goin', Doc."

"Don't try to pin all the blame on me, Sawyer. It was your fault that this happened in the first place."

"I think you might need to give me a checkup, Doc. I don't think I heard you right. Did you just say it was _my _fault?"

"You went to hit me, I shoved you away in defense."

"Correction. I went to _whoop _you after you tried to throw your rock on my foot!"

"I did not," Jack looked away, denying it.

Sawyer flipped a hand at him, and shook his head, forgetting it. He took off his pants to let them dry, because walking around in wet pants isn't very comfortable. He hung them over the curtains, and glared at Jack as he went through the curtains to the other side. He found Kate sitting, knees up, poking at the burnt out fire. He slowly went and stood by her.

"Bet'cher mornin' woulda been a lot better if Doc wasn't around last night," he joked.

She rolled her eyes, and didn't look up at him. He stopped to think of something else to say. It was silent. And then…

"So, I gotta say, those had to be the best damn eggs I ever had," he tried.

He still got the same response.

"So, what, now, you gonna stare at that fire hopelessly 'til we get rescued?"

"Better than watching you two act like school kids," she finally responded.

"All right," he said, giving her that one, then taking a brief pause. "I'm………."

She looked up at him, almost stunned. _Was he…Could he actually…_ She heard him mumble something that sounded like "sorry", but she couldn't tell. Because it was _him, _it could have been anything from "sorry" to "horny". At that moment, Jack was about to come out, but he stopped himself at the side of the curtain, and listened.

"Excuse me?"

"I said sorry," he said a bit clearer this time.

"I don't think I heard you right," she said smiling. "Did you just say –"

"_Sorry._ Yeah," he said, annoyed this time.

She laughed. "Could that possibly be the first time you said that?"

"What's it to you, Freckles?"

She shrugged, still grinning. Then she let out another laugh. She finally saw that Sawyer was in his usual grey t-shirt, but now, accompanied by a pair of navy blue boxers. She looked away for a minute, blushing. Then she turned back, trying to make it as if it were nothing.

"Decided to get rid of the jeans?"

He looked down, remembering he was just in his boxers. "Oh. Yeah. They were ridin' up."

She laughed.

"But you know, it's a little cold down here. If you wanna, you can come warm me up," he said, raising his eyebrows.

She laughed again, shaking hear head. "Rain check on that," she joked.

He raised his eyebrows in response, shocked that she would even consider. She sighed, apparently still amused.

"I can't believe you just apologized," she sniggered.

Jack stepped back behind the curtain, and leaned against a wall. _What an ass,_ he thought to himself. He was just trying to get Kate to ease up to him. And yet, Jack stood there and let him. What was he thinking! Then he heard them speaking again, and listened.

"Yeah, well, soak up the glory of it now, princess. I can guarantee you, you ain't gonna hear that again."

"Well that's a shame," she said, playfully.

"And why's that?"

"Well…" she stopped, and starting shaking her head. "No, never mind."

"No. Tell me."

She looked up at him, and started shaking her head again, looking away.

"Freckles, I'm gonna have to start ticklin' you again, if you don't tell me."

She considered it. Of course she wouldn't mind if he started tickling her again. Surprisingly, when he was tickling her, she loved him best. He'd smile a real smile, with those adorable dimples and – Wait. Had she just said _loved_?

"You got 'til the count of three," he said, leaning toward her. "One, Two –"

"All right! All right!" she gave in, breaking out of her thoughts.

He leaned back, grinning proudly, awaiting her answer. "So why's it a shame?"

"Well, because if you said it more often, maybe I'd start to think a little bit more about things we talked about last night," she said, slyly.

"Well…" he said, raising his eyebrows, forcing her to laugh. "I'll have to remember that."

Jack, who couldn't take it anymore, finally stepped out. Both looked up at him, and it was quiet.

"What, were you talking about me?" he joked.

"No," Kate said, surprised.

He laughed. "I was kidding. I just wondered why it got so quiet when I appeared."

"Why would anyone wanna talk about _you, _Doc?"

"Shut up," Jack replied, shaking his head, showing he didn't want to start anything.

Kate got up suddenly, just as Jack sat down. Both Jack and Sawyer looked up at her.

"Can I trust you two not to kill each other while I go wash up?"

"Probably not, but I'd be happy to join you," Sawyer said, flashing one of his irresistible smiles.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Go ahead. We'll be fine."

She looked at Jack gratefully and went to her side of the cave to wash up.

"So, we'll be fine, will we, Doc?" Sawyer asked, once she was gone.

"For her sake, I hope so."

"For _her _sake…" he repeated.

It was a long silence after that.

"So you seem to be having fun."

"With what?"

"With her."

"Yeah. I _love _a tease," he said, rolling his eyes.

Jack snickered. "That's the price you pay for wanting a criminal."

"What I can't figure out is why she'd wanna go after a doctor."

Jack shrugged. "It's the stethoscope," he joked.

Sawyer laughed. "Yeah, I bet."

They grew silent again, and that's when Sawyer stopped to think. He was actually sitting here with Jack, actually having a nice conversation, actually not fighting. What was wrong with this picture? He felt his face start to heat up with anger. He couldn't let himself be friendly with the competition. It had to be a ploy of Jack's, so he could win over Kate. Well he certainly wouldn't let that happen. But he couldn't just start darting at Jack. Kate wouldn't appreciate that.

He sighed. This had to be the first time he ever let a woman get in the way of what he wanted to do. It was the first time he let a woman _control_ him. He had to admit, though, it was kind of a good feeling.

"So, tell me somethin', Doc. You followed us here 'cause you wanted to make sure she was okay, OR, to make sure she wasn't with _me_?" he smirked.

"Honestly?"

"No, I want you to lie to me."

"Both, then."

"What is it ya got against me, Hero?" he said, lighting a cigarette.

"Where should I begin?" he replied, tearing the cigarette out of his mouth and tossing it into the dying fire.

Sawyer looked at Jack like he was the devil – spitefully, and as if he were crazy.

"I don't know how on earth we have so much air in here that we can live, but smoking is going to worsen it."

"I've smoked a dozen times in here already!"

"I don't care. You're not doing it in front of me."

Sawyer, in response, took out another cigarette and started lighting it. This time, he held it away from Jack, so he couldn't get it. He saw how agitated Jack was getting, and he was loving it. Then, suddenly, Jack got up and went to the entryway and started pulling out rocks. Sawyer got up, and went through the curtain to the other side to get Kate. (And his pants!)

Of course this didn't please Kate, who thankfully for her, had already gotten her jeans and bra back on. She looked at Sawyer, bewildered. He looked away, blushing, embarrassed.

"What the hell, Sawyer?"

"Look, I just came to tell ya that Hero's tearing at the rocks tryin' to dig his way outta here."

"What?"

She stormed through, neglecting to put her shirt on. Sawyer was suddenly enraged. He didn't want Jack to see her like that! But little did he know, that had already happened. He grabbed his jeans from the curtain and started putting them back on, even though they were still slightly damp.

"Jack!" she shouted. "What're you doing!"

"I'm getting the hell out of here, Kate. I can't take him anymore."

"What did he do now?"

"I didn't do nothin'!" Sawyer stepped out, in his own defense.

"Look, Kate, I'm sorry. But I can't stay here with him doing things in spite of me, and watching you two…I just…I can't."

She looked at him sadly. "Jack, don't. You'll kill yourself."

"We have to get out of here one way or another."

"But you shouldn't be risking your life to do it! We need you!"

He stopped and looked at her, hopelessly. Sawyer looked at her bewildered.

"You're the only doctor on this island. If you get killed, what chance do we all have of surviving here?" she said, putting a hand on his arm.

More anger and jealousy sparked in Sawyer. He wanted to rip her hand off Jack's arm, but he had to restrain himself. _For her sake_, he kept repeating in his mind.

"Kate, no one is going to find us here. If one of us doesn't dig it out, we may as well be sentencing ourselves to our own death."

She looked down, and he returned to digging out the cave. But suddenly, the whole cave was rumbling again. Jack didn't stop.

"Jack! You need to stop! Now!"

He didn't listen. Then, suddenly, the whole entrance cleared out, and the tunnel was gone. Jack slipped and fell, only hanging on to the ledge with one hand. There was no tunnel left, but an opening, feet above rock and water. If he let go now, he would plunge right into the rocks, undoubtedly killing himself.

"JACK!" Kate screamed, covering her mouth with her hand.

She kneeled down, trying to pull his free hand up. But she wasn't strong enough. She was starting to feel faint again, and leaned back, rubbing her head. But she fought it, and grabbed his hand, pulling as hard as she could. Still, she had not the strength to pull him up. All of a sudden, a hand grabbed Jack's arm, right below hers. Together, she and Sawyer pulled Jack back into the cave. When he was finally in, they all looked down below. They were all thinking the same thing: _It's a long way to the bottom._


	22. Chapter 22

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter twenty two of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! Jk!)

Quickie:

Oh the evilness of me. I'll be expecting you all at  
my door with torches and pitchforks forcing me to update:P

**Chapter 22 **

They all continuously stared down below. They were now really trapped. The only way out was to jump, and in doing so, they'd be killed. Somehow, Kate was pushed back behind Sawyer and Jack, as they started to argue, yet again.

"What the hell did you do, Doc?"

"Shut up, Sawyer. Just shut up."

"Ain't no way out but here!"

"No," Jack said, refusing to accept it. "No, there's probably another way."

"Where? Where's another way out?" Sawyer snapped, throwing his hands in the air, angrily. "Ain't nothin' above, behind, or next to a cave behind a waterfall!"

"Sawyer! For once! Keep your mouth shut!"

Sawyer glared, ready to come back with something ruthless. Before he could, Kate intervened.

"We have to jump," she said in a quiet, haunted voice.

They both turned to her, sure, and yet, unsure of what she just said.

"What?" Sawyer asked.

"Kate, no," Jack warned.

"We have to, Jack! We can't stay here and die!"

"We'll think of another way. There's probably a loose or hollow –"

"As hard as it is to say, Sawyer's right," she said, ignoring him.

Sawyer looked at her, almost insulted.

"There is nothing above, or behind, or next to a cave behind a waterfall." She walked slowly to the opening and looked down, fearfully. "The only way to get out is to jump."

"Kate…" Jack said, pulling her arm.

She pulled away and kept looking down. "There," she pointed. "That spot. There's water in that one spot. We have to jump just right though."

Both Jack and Sawyer looked to down to where she was pointing. It was a very small and narrow spot of water to the right of the mass of rocks. But a person could hardly make it from jumping as high as they were. The chances of making it were slim. Jack looked over the ledge a bit more, and noticed that the ledge was jagged in many places, and almost seemed like you could climb it down, if only they had rope.

"Blankets," Jack muttered aloud.

"What?" Sawyer asked, still rather confused by the both of them.

"We can gather up all the blankets, make a rope, and climb down the ledge, to the bottom," he replied, starting to gather up Sawyer's blankets. He nodded for Sawyer to help.

"What are you talking about, Doc?" he said, as he started picking up blankets too.

"It would be safer than jumping," Jack reasoned.

He turned around looking for Kate, but she had her heart set on it and already disappeared through the curtains to get whatever she could. Jack soon realized this and dropped the blankets he was holding. He went through the curtains and to Kate. Sawyer looked up, seeing he was gone, and held the blankets, shoulders slumped.

"What the hell, doc?"

Jack found Kate, her shirt back on, filling up two water bottles with water from the miniature waterfall.

"Kate, what are you doing?"

"I'm getting out of here," she said simply, not looking up.

"Kate, you're going to kill yourself. Besides, I –"

"Jack. Just stop yourself right there, okay? I've been stuck here one too many times and I don't want to be stuck anymore. I know I can make it to the water."

"Kate, just listen to me for a minute. There is an easier way down than jumping."

She looked at him, interested in what he was saying now.

"If we gather up all the blankets, and tie them together, we could probably make a rope long enough to reach the bottom. The ledge is easily climbable, if we just –"

"Fine," she said, rather quickly.

She continued filling up her bottles of water. Although that wasn't exactly a happy response, he was glad she wasn't going to jump to her death. He gathered her blankets and brought them to the pile of Sawyer's. Shockingly, together, but of course in argument, Jack and Sawyer tied all the blankets together. Jack held an end, and let the rest of it go downward. It ended roughly 3 feet from the bottom.

"All right. That's good enough. We can't kill ourselves from a three foot drop," he concluded. "Do you two have everything you brought?"

Sawyer put an arm around Kate. "Yes sir."

Kate rolled her eyes and shrugged his arm off.

"All right," Jack started. "Kate, I think you should go first."

"Fine."

She grabbed a hold of the blanket rope, and stepped down onto the first part of the ledge. Carefully, she made her way down the next one, and the next one. After a few minutes, she was a good ten feet down, and Jack and Sawyer started to follow. Jack almost slipped, and acting unusually, Sawyer caught his shirt and pulled him back. Jack looked at Sawyer, gratefully, and Sawyer just nodded ahead. They still had a great deal of climbing down to go. Jack guessed they were about thirty feet up.

Kate hadn't slipped once yet. She just kept slowly stepping onto the jagged parts of the wall of the ledge, occasionally sprayed by the mist of the fall. She didn't dare look down. Normally, she wasn't afraid of heights and could climb to the top of the highest tree. But for some reason, she was hopelessly afraid of being so high on a cliff. She paused, hesitating to go to the next step. It was considerably lower than the one she was standing on. She looked over and saw the spot she'd wanted to jump to. She was only about twelve feet down, but she thought she could make it. She let go of the blanket rope and grabbed onto the ledge above her, slowly shimmying her way across.

It took a few minutes for Jack to notice she wasn't below him anymore. He saw her heading sideways and was immediately filled with worry.

"Kate!" he called out.

"What the hell are ya doin', Freckles?" Sawyer also called out.

"I'm fine!" she called back.

"Kate! Get back over here! You're going to get hurt!"

"Better listen to the Doc, Freckles!" Sawyer warned, also starting to fill with concern.

"Relax, Jack! You know how many trees I've climbed!" she called back.

"This is different, Kate! This is a cliff! And if you fall, you're sending yourself to your death!"

She didn't answer this time. She turned around and now had her back to the ledge. She leaned slightly looking down at the area, and almost fell far too forward. She gasped and leaned back.

"Kate!" Jack called again.

"Come on, Freckles!" Sawyer tried, starting to panic.

She looked at them, and shook her head. She dropped one of the two water bottles down below her, and it went right into the water. Since it plunged right in, she thought it would be the same for her. She inched slowly more toward the edge.

"Kate! Don't do it!" Jack called again. "Please!"

She looked at them one last time, and grinned. Why wouldn't they trust her? She knew what she was doing! Although, she hadn't noticed that accidentally, the other bottle fell, and smashed onto the rocks. She looked down, completely confident in what she was doing, then jumped.

"KATE!" Sawyer and Jack shouted simultaneously.


	23. Chapter 23

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter twenty three of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! Jk!)

Quickie:  
I know! I know! I know! You're all like:  
OMGWHATTHEFUCK!ISKATEDEADORNOT!PLEASETELLMENOWYOUPSYCHOBITCH!

**Chapter 23**

Jack didn't even stop to look down to see if Kate had made it into the water. He started climbing as fast as he could down to the bottom. Sawyer undoubtedly followed, and _he_ didn't even stop to see if Kate had made it. When they got down to the bottom, they didn't see her. Jack hopped around the rocks looking for her, but she was nowhere to be seen. Jack was never more scared in his life. He started counting.

Sawyer called out her name, but got no response. He went to the edge of the mass of rocks, looking in the water for her, but saw nothing. Worry suddenly consumed him, and all he could think about was whether she was okay or not. He felt like he wanted to throw up, and at the same time, fall to pieces. Where the hell could she be? He looked all around, and still saw nothing.

"KATE!" Jack kept calling out.

And then…

"Jack!" Sawyer called, pointing to the unmistakable body of Kate, lying on a large rock that was separated from the rest.

He hurriedly went toward her, with Jack right on his tail. He kneeled next to her, his heart pounding, barely breathing. He pushed the hair out of her face, which was slightly off colored. Jacks eyes widened, as he came nearer. Sawyer lifted her, propelling her upper body in his arms. Jack kneeled across from him, and placed two fingers on her neck, checking for a pulse.

"Anything?"

"Hard to tell." He waited a minute and put his ear to her mouth, then nodded. "Yeah. She's okay."

Sawyer let out an enormous, long breath of relief.

"Concussion, I think," Jack concluded, with his hand on her head. "Hopefully, still the same one."

"_Hopefully_," Sawyer repeated, feeling rather annoyed at Jack for no reason at all.

"Come on."

"What do you mean, _come on_!"

"We need to get her back to the caves. All my stuff is there and-"

"And just how are we gonna get her there? You gonna doggie paddle with her on your back?"

Jack narrowed his eyes and pointed behind him, showing that the mass of rocks led to shore. Sawyer rolled his eyes, embarrassed. He shifted from lifting her upper body, to putting an arm under her legs, and one behind her back.

"Lead on, Doc."

"Sawyer, you don't have to –"

"No, you save your strength for healin' her."

Jack rolled his eyes and, indeed, led on. He stopped and pulled the rope of blankets down from the cave – they'd come in handy eventually. After that, it was a silent walk to the caves. When they finally made it, there were of course a dozen or more people running up to them, happy that Jack was alive. And of course noticing the very dead looking Kate. And of course neglecting Sawyer's existence. Jack quickly backed them all off, and Sawyer laid Kate down next to Jack's medical supplies. Sawyer watched Jack start to examine her, sadly. He turned to start walking away.

"Where are you going?" Jack asked. "You're not going to stay here with her?"

"I highly doubt she'll wake up askin' for _me_. But if she does, she'll know where to find me," he said, walking again.

"I think you're wrong!" Jack called out.

"I think I'm right, doc!" Then he shrugged. "Just take care of her!"

Jack nodded, watching him walk away. Was Sawyer actually giving up?

It was a few hours later that Kate finally woke up. Everything that had happened was all a blur to her. She looked around, unsure of where she was, until she saw Sawyer sitting a few feet away, looking away from her. Then she remembered – they were trying to get out of the cave and they were all climbing down. But she jumped. She had no remembrance of whether she made it into the water or not, but apparently, she wasn't dead. She shifted a little, trying to get a bit more comfortable in the rock hard airplane chairs. Her shift disrupted Sawyer from whatever he was doing, and he looked to her.

"You're lucky to be alive, Freckles."

She smiled. "Now where have I heard that before?"

He grinned back. "Just do me a favor and don't ever go jumpin' off a cliff again."

She sat up. "What happened? I don't remember anything after I jumped."

"Don't exactly know what happened. Doc and I were climbin' down too fast to even see where ya landed."

She pulled her knees to her, and wrapped her arms around them.

"Found ya lyin' on a rock. Thought you were dead."

She scrunched her eyebrows. "If I landed on a rock, I should've been."

"Then maybe you didn't land on a rock."

"But then –" she started, but shook her head.

"It's a mystery, Freckles. Just like this damn island."

She leaned back, woozily, her knees still up. She put a hand to her head, trying to rub away the feeling, but it didn't work.

"Where's Jack?"

"He's at the caves. Guy's stuck for two days, and everyone's managed to get as hurt as they can get."

"I feel so…queasy," she said, lying back down.

"All right, my face ain't _that _bad to look at!"

She smiled. "Did Jack say anything? I mean, after the fall. You know, did he –"

"Did he check you out?" he grinned.

"Yeah," she smiled sheepishly back.

"Um…yeah," Sawyer shifted, uncomfortably. He didn't want to, but he had to follow Jack's orders. "He says, uh, you have a concussion."

"Again?"

"No. Same one. But it's worse now."

"Oh," she said, a little confused. "But I don't feel as bad as I did when I had the concussion before."

"Yeah well, you'll have to take that up with Jack. 'Case you haven't noticed, doctor stuff ain't my expertise."

"I never thought so," she said, smiling.

"Good," he leaned back into his seat.

Kate sat upright again, this time, feeling fine. But for some reason, she heard Jack's voice in her head, telling her, _"The most I can tell you is to rest…And someone will have to keep a very watchful eye on you..."_ As she thought of it, she looked to Sawyer. He was fumbling with something in his pocket. She smiled to herself. This wouldn't be too bad.

"So why did-"

"What do you-"

They both started simultaneously.

"You go first," she insisted.

"Nah. You go ahead."

"Okay," she said, somewhat stunned at Sawyer's behavior. "I was going to say, why did I end up here instead of at the caves with Jack?"

"I don't know. I was takin' a walk, then I found you layin' here. Figured Jack must've put you here."

"Why?"

"Don't know. I thought he'd keep you with him too."

"Hmm…" she began to wonder. "Well, what did you want to say?"

"Oh. Uh," he looked away blushing. "It was nothin'."

"You're a horrible liar, Sawyer."

"With _you_," he said, before thinking.

She looked at him in surprise, grinning. He looked at her with wide eyes. Had he just said that? Damn. He really needed to remember to think before speaking.

"You can't lie to me?" she asked, thoughtfully.

"Well, what I meant was…I thought I…I mean…" he stammered.

She laughed. He was adorable when he was trying this hard.

"You know what, never mind," he sat back, folding his arms.

"Okay," she said, letting him off easy.

She watched as he let out a breath of relief, and couldn't help but smile.

"So really," she said, leaning forward, interestedly. "What were you going to say?"

He looked at her and sighed. "I was gonna ask what you wanna do now."

"Oh. Well…I guess I should rest," she said a bit sadly, lying back again.

"Right," he said getting up.

"Where are you going?" she bolted upright again.

"I'm gonna walk," he told her.

She sunk back into the chairs, feeling even worse now. "Okay."

"Don't fret," he teased. "I'll be back."

She rolled her eyes smiling, as he started walking away.

"Don't wait up," he called over his shoulder.

She rolled her eyes again in response and leaned back to sleep.

* * *

Notes:

Okay. The next chapter will be an extremely good one. But I'm gonna have to make you wait on it. Last minute changes, you know? It will be worth the 23 chapter wait, I assure you.  
Feedback is nice!


	24. Chapter 24

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter twenty four of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! Jk!)

Quickie:  
Not a word about this chapter. None at all. Except that this is my first time trying to write something like this, therefore it may sound weird. LOL Bear with me. I tried. It might seem juvinille, so yeah. But I tried. -shrug-

**Chapter 24**

"Wake up!"

Kate heard someone familiar whispering over and over, but was too drowsy to figure out who it was. Someone was shaking her, and she felt like her head was going to explode.

"Come on, Freckles! Wake the hell up!"

She recognized Sawyer's voice and opened her eyes. He was leaning right over here, and she was looking straight into his blue green eyes. She saw excitement in them, and with that, she sat up.

"What?" she asked, yawning.

"Get up. Let's go," he said, grabbing her hand.

"What!"

His touch had a chilling effect on her, as always. She grew almost as excited as he was. She looked around. It was dark, and everyone's fires were dying down. It seemed to be the dead of night.

"How long have I been asleep?" she looked at him.

"Don't matter. Just come on!" He pulled, but she pulled back.

"Where? Why?"

"It's a surprise," he said, flashing a grin. "Come on. We gotta be quick."

She got up finally. He pulled her as he started walking quickly, and she stumbled.

"Sawyer!" she managed to say in all the commotion.

But he didn't stop. He kept pulling her with him.

"Sawyer! I can barely stand up!"

"You're just tired," he said, slowing to a walk now.

"I have a concussion. Or have you forgotten?"

"You know, Freckles, you shouldn't listen to everything Doc tells you."

"What!" she said, surprised.

"Before, when you asked what Jack had told me about you – I got a little nervous because I didn't wanna tell you what he told me. See-"

"Sawyer, what does this have to do with –"

"He lied," he finally told her, still pulling her along.

She ripped her arm from his grasp and stopped where she was. Sawyer turned around, looking at her curiously.

"What?"

"You ain't concussed or whatever. You ain't even injured or nothin'. He told me to say that because he just wanted you where he could see you. Didn't want you goin' off wanderin' or anything."

She looked down in disbelief. "Jack said that?"

"Look. I ain't one to lie to women."

She was about to point out that that was entirely untrue, but he quickly added,

"Women _I like_," he said.

She could see him blushing, even in the dark. She grinned, hoping he couldn't see it. But then she remembered what they were talking about. Jack couldn't have lied. He wouldn't, especially not to her. Right?

"Kate, I just thought you should know the truth."

She looked up at him. She knew then that it was true. Sawyer otherwise would never use her name. Beside that, she could see through his lies. And he wasn't lying now. She sat on a tree stump, still looking down. Sawyer watched her sadly. She looked up at him and instantly got back up.

"I'm sorry. I'm acting like an idiot. I shouldn't care about it."

"Don't worry about it."

"Let's just go. It doesn't matter anymore."

"Okay."

They started walking again, this time slower and in silence.

It was dark now, as they were still walking. Kate was getting tired, and rather annoyed.

"What time do you think it is?"

"Reckon about three or four."

"That late?"

"Or early, dependin' on how you look at it," he grinned.

"So, are we there yet?" she asked, like a little kid.

"Nope. Little more. _However_," he started, stopping in his place.

She almost bumped into him, but stopped herself. The sound of that _However _made her feel uneasy.

"This'd be the part where you have to close your eyes," he smirked.

She groaned. "Do I _have _to?"

"Yes!"

She sighed and closed her eyes, startled by the sudden feel of Sawyer's hands on her lower back and shoulder. She stiffened, unintentionally.

"Relax!" he laughed. "I'm just gonna guide you so you don't fall."

"So why is it so important that we hurry?"

"Because they're gonna leave soon."

"Who?"

"Not a who, Freckles."

She was going to ask what he meant, but figured she'd save it and let him surprise her. After all, this was probably one of those rare moments that Sawyer had and she didn't want to waste it. After a few minutes, they came to a stop.

"What's going on?" Kate asked, her eyes still closed.

He didn't answer her, but she felt him let her go. Everything was silent, except for the chirping of the crickets.

"Sawyer?" she slowly opened her eyes.

She gasped at what she saw. They were in a circle of trees, with a beautiful green mat of grass filling the center. Swarms of fireflies filled the place, giving the sense of the trees being lit up. She looked down and saw a blanket, conveniently on the ground. She smiled, and looked up and saw a sky full of stars, and a crescent moon. She looked and saw Sawyer leaning against one of the trees with his arms folded. She laughed at his attempt to be suave. She walked toward him, slowly, looking around.

"How did you find this place?"

"Luck, I guess," he shrugged.

She poked his rock hard stomach. He flinched from her touch.

"Who knew big tough Sawyer had a romantic side?" she beamed.

"Yeah. Who knew…"

"This place is so beautiful," she commented, walking to the middle, still looking around.

"Found it days ago," he mentioned, following her to the middle.

"Why are they all here?" she said, looking at the fireflies.

"Who knows. They'll fly off in a few minutes," he told her.

"How can you be sure?"

"'Cause I been here before. They don't linger when people come around. Usually leave about now."

"And then it's just us," she said, flirtatiously.

"Ain't nothin' wrong with that," he grinned.

She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him passionately, surprising herself more than him. She quickly pulled away and looked away embarrassed. He stared at her, unsure of what had just happened.

"I-I'm sorry. I don't…I don't know what came over me."

They were both looking down now, only a foot between them. Sawyer cleared his throat, and stuffed his hands in his pockets, while Kate continued looking sideways.

"Aw hell!" Sawyer exclaimed, pulling her closer.

They didn't hold back anymore and found themselves kissing once again. The kiss never ended, only deepened. They were kissing so forcefully now, that he backed her against a tree. Sawyer's hands found his way up her shirt, as she started to pull his off and throw it out of the way. He tossed her shirt aside and pulled her a bit too hard to the center of the area, still kissing. He ended up falling back onto the blanket, and she fell onto him. They laughed for a minute as they rolled on their backs.

"Smooth, Sawyer."

"Shut up, Freckles," he said, pulling her onto him in another kiss.

She unzipped his jeans, pushing them slowly down his waist. He kicked them off once they reached his ankles. Then it was her turn. He let her undo her own jeans, and sat at her feet. He pulled off each leg, teasingly slow. When he leaned back over her, she pulled him down to her, kissing him vigorously. He reached around her arms and started unfastening her bra, but she broke away from him, her hands now resting on his bare chest.

"You've done this before," she noted.

"Many times," he looked at her, then grinned.

"Well then wouldn't you know by now that this one fastens in the front?" she teased.

He looked and saw that it, indeed, fastened in the front. She laughed at the dumb look on his face.

"'Course I knew that," he said, trying to cover his mistake. "I was just…"

She laughed and slid her hands up his chest and around his neck, pulling him to her again, kissing him. They forgot about the bra for now, and just continued kissing. Minutes later, Sawyer had subconsciously unfastened it, but Kate didn't care. She slid his boxers down the exact way as his jeans. He started treading kisses down her body, pulling her underwear off slowly as he sent kisses down her legs. She was covered in goose bumps. When he finally was back up to her face again, she arched to kiss him and he filled her – they were one.

It was very early in the morning now, and the sun still hadn't made its way up yet. They both laid together, Kate in Sawyer's arms, their eyes closed.

"Don't fall asleep," he warned.

"I won't," she whispered, her eyes closed.

"Kate…"

"Hmm?"

"I love you," he whispered.

She opened her eyes looking at him, to see if he was serious. He was.

"Sawyer…" she shook her head. She closed her eyes, trying to keep her tears in. "It wouldn't work," she whispered, her voice cracking.

"Why not?"

"Because," she said looking down, letting the tears spill. "We're stuck on an island. And when and if we get rescued, I'm going to jail."

"I'll bail you out," he whispered, jokingly, closing his eyes again, and hugging her to him tighter.

She shook her head, and sighed. She snuggled into his warmth and fell asleep.


	25. Chapter 25

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter twenty five of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! Jk!)

Quickie:  
Wahh! What happened to all the reviewers? Did you all die? Where is teh luff:(  
I heart all those who still review though.

**Chapter 25**

Several rays of sunshine poked through the trees, shining down onto them. It was morning now, and they both lay sleeping blissfully, the blanket somehow now over them. Sawyer held her in his arms, and she rested her head upon his chest. He woke before her, and just watched her sleep for a few minutes, admiring her body. After a while, he started kissing her on her neck, right below her ear. She smiled, her eyes still closed, holding back a fit of giggles. She leaned her head up and kissed him on the cheek.

"Good morning," she whispered.

"Mornin'."

"We should probably get dressed," she whispered.

"No one will find us here," he whispered back. "Ain't no one else that knows about this place."

It was quiet for a good while as they lay together. Kate finally broke the silence.

"Sawyer?" she looked up at him.

"Yeah?"

"Did you mean what you said last night?"

"'Course I did," he leaned up on his arm now, looking at her. "I have enough money in the bank to –"

"I meant the other thing," she smiled.

"Oh. Yeah. I meant that."

"But it wouldn't work…" she told him again, unsure if he really understood last night.

"I know," he said flatly.

"Well…we can try," she offered, trying to be more optimistic.

"Well you didn't think I'd give up that easy, did ya?"

She smiled. "No."

She leaned back into him, making him fall back onto his back again. He pulled her close, holding her. She sighed.

"Sometimes I wish we won't get rescued."

"Are you insane, girl?"

She laughed. "No. It's just, if we weren't ever found, I wouldn't have to go to jail…And we could just stay here like this forever."

"What's this _we _business?" he sat up, looking at her.

"Well I could always get Jack-" she started, grinning.

"Agh!" he pushed her back down, not letting her finish, and kissed her tenderly.

When he finally stopped, she laughed.

"I didn't think so."

"Bastard owes me big time," he mumbled.

She sat up and laughed. "For what?"

"For savin' him!"

She rolled her eyes.

"If I didn't help him, he coulda fallen and died. Now that I think of it, I shoulda just left him…"

"Sawyer!"

"What? The guy has it in for me!"

"Here we go," she sighed.

"He does! He's been on my case since the damn inhalers I didn't have, gotta follow us everywhere, sticks me with the doofiest glasses –"

She laughed as he continued on and on with his talking. He didn't stop until Kate put her foot down.

"Okay. Are you gonna shut up or am I going to have to kiss you?"

He paused, considering. "And then he has the nerve to try and steal you-"

She leaned over and kissed him so lovingly, so passionately, so forcefully, that when she finally broke away, it took him several minutes for him to return to reality.

"I'm flattered by your jealousy," she whispered while he was still in a trance.

She got up and started to get dressed while he traveled back to earth.

"You'll have to do that more often, Freckles."

She laughed, as she put her shirt on. Sawyer got dressed too, except he remained shirtless. He slung his shirt over his shoulder as they started to walk to the beach again.

"You're not going to put your shirt on?"

"What's the point? It's a hundred degrees out here!"

She rolled her eyes. "I'd feel better if you put it on."

He groaned and started putting it on. "Wouldn't want Doc to feel too inferior, anyway."

She laughed. "What makes you think he'd feel inferior?"

"You kiddin' me? You see how scrawny he is?"

She laughed harder now and started walking backwards so she could face him.

"Who ever said _you _were a piece of work?" she teased, biting her lower lip.

He raised his eyebrows. "Ouch!"

She laughed.

"That's painful, Freckles!"

"I just say it like it is," she joked, shrugging.

"Well I got news for _you_, sassafras."

"Oh yeah?"

"_You_ are butt ugly!"

She stopped in place, and walked up to him, so close that their noses grazed.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"Fine," she said simply.

She turned back around, walking normally now. She walked ahead of him, walking swiftly through the bushes. He followed her, still unsure of that effortless reply. She couldn't seriously be insulted by his joke, could she?

"But just so you know," she started, smiling again. "You're the one who screwed me last night."

He chuckled. Well that answered that.

They made their way back to the beach soon enough, with continuous taunting. Neither noticed that Jack was standing near the shore by Sawyer's tent. He watched them approach. Sawyer seemed to be moving closer to her side, sort of nudging her. When she stumbled, he finally backed off. Then she shoved him and he fell into the water. She ran as he got up and started to chase after her. She was still laughing once she caught up to Jack.

"Hey."

"Good morning," he replied. "Where have you been?"

She finally stopped laughing, but looked up at him smiling.

"We just went for a short walk," she lied.

"I find that a little hard to believe."

The smile faded and she looked at him, curiously.

"I went to check on you last night and you were gone. Now I come to see if you're back this morning and instead I find you two just coming back."

Her face went pink and the soaking wet Sawyer neared.

"Howdy, Doc!" he said, shaking his hair out, unintentionally wetting Kate and Jack.

"Morning, Sawyer," Jack managed, blinking away the drops hitting him.

When Sawyer was finished, they were all quiet.

"Did I interrupt some little shindig you two were havin'?"

Kate rolled her eyes, while Jack shook his head.

"No. I was just wondering where she was last night and this morning."

"She was with me!"

"I kind of figured that." He turned to Kate now. "So how's your head?"

"It's fine. Doesn't even feel like I have a concussion," she glanced at him sideways.

Jack looked to Sawyer, who suddenly decided to take a short walk to his tent. _Stupid redneck_, he thought to himself.

"Why did you lie to me, Jack?"

"What?" he said, trying to act surprised.

She rolled her eyes, apparently not buying it. "Sawyer told me. I don't _have _a concussion, I don't have anything. I'm fine. And yet you sit here and tell me that I have to rest for a while and someone has to watch over me? I don't get it."

"Kate I was just –"

"Trying to help? Well how is lying to me going to help me?"

"Look. You don't know what you're getting into with him. He's –"

"What!" she broke in, half laughing now. "Now you want to tell me about Sawyer?"

He sighed. "You know what, you're right. I can't tell you what to do, where to go, who to like. The only thing I can do is stand by and watch you screw up."

With that, he turned and headed over to Sayid. She glared after him. What had gotten into him so suddenly? Was he jealous? He never seemed like the jealous type to her. She decided to stop thinking about it for now and headed over to Sawyer, who was now comfortably reading an old car magazine in his tent. She leaned against one of the poles of the tent, folded her arms and sighed.

"Well that looked fun," he said, not looking up.

"Looks can be deceiving."

"Well _I _had to figure that one out the hard way!" he joked with her.

She looked away not amused by the joke.

"All right, I get it. No more jokin'."

"Who does he think he is?"

"_Super Jack_," he raised his eyebrows briefly, emphasizing the two words. "Gotta save the day and get the girl."

He stopped to turn a page in the magazine, which he really wasn't even reading anymore.

"Unfortunately," he said, looking up at Kate now. "I don't think that plan's gonna work."

"Uh-huh," she said distractedly, looking at Jack talk with Sayid.

Sawyer walked leisurely toward her, looking at what she was looking at. He leaned his arm on the pole she was leaning on, and she leaned back into it, still staring.

"Nice ass," he said looking at Jack.

"What?" she said, turning around looking at him surprised.

"That's what you're thinkin', ain't it? That Jack's got a nice ass?"

She rolled her eyes, turning back around. "Shut up."

"Well then what the hell are ya thinkin'?"

But she didn't reply. It would be the worst idea in the world to tell him what was exactly on her mind at that moment.


	26. Chapter 26

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter twenty six of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! Jk!)

Quickie:   
All right, this is the beginning of where things get KIND OF weird…  
I think it's safe to say that this story is turning into an SKJ. Sort of. So I think I'm going to dub it an SKJ. Although, we're still keeping the main focus **_Skate!_** Jack's just gonna get tangled into it now, because my brain has too many ideas flowing from it at the moment.  
And just so we're clear, some things came out of my imagination just for the sake of the story.

**Chapter 26**

Days past, and Kate and Jack never spoke. They had crossed paths a few times, but with nothing more than a glance or a nod of acknowledgement. Now, Kate was around Sawyer more often than she had been in the past. But of course, now that everything was pretty much out in the open, it was unusual for them _not_ to be together. She'd sit with him in his tent and they'd joke around, as always. They took many "walks" to their little place – for the same reason as the first.

After a while, Kate began declining Sawyer's requests to go for a "walk". He didn't question them at first, figuring maybe they were overdoing it. But after some time, he was starting to get irritated. When he finally asked, her only reply was always that she wasn't feeling well. He knew it wasn't true, but she always looked so cute pretending to be sick, that he let her get away with it. What he didn't know, was that half the time she said it, she honestly wasn't feeling well. She didn't tell him this of course, because she didn't want to worry him. She knew too well that he'd somehow find a way to get her to go to Jack about it, which was exactly what she'd been avoiding.

For some time after the past few weeks, Kate began to wander off in thought. She started thinking about the past. She thought about her mother, she thought of all the crimes she had been a part of. She wished she could take it all back. She thought most about _Tom_. Now that she was with Sawyer, everything about Tom came back to her so suddenly. Everything about him was so clear in her mind that she could almost feel his presence. His face, his smile, his eyes, his voice, and the last kiss they shared in his car.

When Sawyer didn't notice, she'd cry herself to sleep at night, thinking of how she had been the reason of Tom's death. She should have made him get out of the car. She knew he was only staying because he didn't want to leave her. And, despite the fact that he was married and had a family now, they both knew they still loved each other. Why did it have to happen? Why him and not her? She had nothing to leave behind! She was a fugitive on the run, it should have been her! But it wasn't. Now, the only thing she had left of him was his miniature 747 plane from their time capsule.

Strangely, after thinking about Tom, Kate was led to thinking about Jack. This surprised her most. Why would she be thinking about him when she was so mad at him? For some reason, she kept remembering when she first met him. He asked her to stitch up his side. Normally, she was real queasy around things like that. But something about him made her at ease. Of course he always made her at ease. She trusted him with her secret. And he never told anyone. He didn't even want to know what she did. But that was Jack. He was sincere and trustworthy, and somehow always made her smile. She couldn't even get mad at him and yell at him like she could with Sawyer. Well, until now.

She couldn't figure it out. Why would he lie to her? More importantly, why would he make Sawyer lie for him? The only thing she could come up with for the reasoning behind his lie was that he was in love with her. She could tell that he had liked her, but never once thought he could _love _her. But then she forced that thought away. There had to be another reason than that.

Now, she grew angrier at him, for no reason. She felt like he had hurt her bad. He lied to her! She wondered if she ever had a concussion at all. It could have been the heat, and the over exhaustion. He said he'd sit and watch her screw up. What exactly was he trying to imply! She snapped out of her thoughts and heard Sawyer's voice.

"Kate!"

"What?"

"Oh _now _you hear me? When I gotta say your name?"

"Sorry. I was thinking."

"Seem to be doin' that a lot, nowadays."

She shrugged, not answering.

"So…You wanna go for a walk?"

She shook her head.

"Why this time?" he said, throwing his hands in the air.

"Not feeling well," she said, blankly.

"All right. I'm gettin' a little tired of you not feelin' well."

"What!"

"You wanna tell me what's really goin' on?"

She stared, her mouth hanging open, feeling cornered. Could she tell him? No.

"Nothing is going on. I just…I don't know. I'm feeling lightheaded, and nauseous. I don't really feel up to doing _anything_," she told him, which really was the truth.

"Well what's with all this thinkin' shit?"

She looked down. "I don't know. My past has come back to haunt me, suddenly."

He sat down, next to her. "What do you mean?"

She shrugged. "I just can't stop thinking about it. About all the things that I've done, all the people I've hurt."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"No." she said, almost too quickly.

He sat back, and they were quiet.

"Back in Tennessee, when I was a boy, I used to have all these horrible dreams. About my dad," he started. "We never got to see him much, he was always workin'. He'd come home at night, but I'd already been in bed, so I never got to see him."

She looked at him sympathetically, realizing the pain he felt as he spoke about his father.

"I used to have nightmares that one night he wouldn't come home, and somethin' bad woulda happened to him. I woke up and I wouldn't cry or nothin'. Just broke into a cold sweat, and a fit of shaking."

"Sawyer…" she whispered, hearing him breathing heavily now.

"Then the one night that he came home early, my mom had to shove me under a bed. Had to protect me from him. He found out what she'd done. He came in, and I heard him shoot her when I was hidin'. Then he came and sat right on the bed I was under. And he…" he paused. "Well…you know the rest. The sad part is, after I realized he shot himself, I got out from under that bed, and I hugged him."

She blinked back the tears that were forming in her eyes.

"I just sat there huggin' him, until my grandparents showed up, two days later. It was the most time I ever spent with my dad."

A few tears slid down Kate's face. Sawyer kept gazing in front of him, a painful look on his face. After a long silence, Kate took an unsteadily deep breath.

"When I was 16, my mother was diagnosed with cancer," she told him. "It wasn't for another five years that the doctors told me that they were mistaken, and she really had dementia," she stopped and let out a half laugh, half sob. "I laughed. I told them my mother couldn't have dementia, because people that are over sixty-five got dementia, and my mother was barely fifty. I walked out, refusing to believe them."

She stopped, blinking through her tears until her vision was clear again.

"I didn't see my mom for another few years after that. Then, Tom had tracked me down and wrote to me that it was true. And for some reason…For some strange reason, it all hit me then. And I felt so horrible! I should've been there with her!" she said, not holding back from crying now.

"Kate," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to –"

"I should have been there…" she repeated softly, disregarding Sawyer's interruption.

Sawyer watched her cry, not knowing what to do. He wanted to hug her, but didn't think that would be the best idea at the moment. She might get too worked up and shove him away. Instead, he squeezed her shoulder, trying to show sympathy. She finally calmed a bit, enough to breathe and speak slowly.

"A few days after, I was on my way to the hospital to visit my mom. Tom had to help me sneak in to see her. I was still on the run when I got his letter. But when I went to see her…"

She stopped, letting out an unintentional sob.

"She didn't remember me. She started screaming and I had to run. Again," she said through tears. "That was the day I –" she paused. "That was the day Tom died."

She calmed to a silent crying now, and looked down. Sawyer looked down with her, not letting go of her shoulder. It was strange how similar they both could be…


	27. Chapter 27

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter twenty seven of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! Jk!)

Quickie:   
Stranger things are about to happen…

**Chapter 27**

A few more days passed, and Kate was finally done with her emotional phase. She still rejected Sawyer's offers to go for a walk. But since that tell all session they had, he hadn't been asking quite as much. They were quiet, for the most part, sometimes just sitting in complete silence all day long. Jack started appearing more often on the beach, and it started to annoy Kate. She felt like he kept coming to check up on her and Sawyer.

She was angry, anytime Jack was present, whether he was only a few feet, or a mile away. She just wanted him to leave her alone. But strangely, once he was gone, she longed for him to be there. She noticed that whenever he was at the beach, he'd sneak glances in her direction. She soon made a game of it, counting how many times he was actually paying attention to what he was doing or who he was talking to, and counting how many times he glanced her way. She toyed with him whenever she caught him looking. She'd kiss Sawyer for no reason, or cuddle up to him, or pretend to be tousling his hair. Anything that would make Jack jealous.

She felt like a schoolgirl, trying to make him jealous. And when she thought about it, it _really_ was juvenile. But it was fun. It was something to do, and she liked seeing him get as annoyed as she was. She hoped that in doing this, eventually he'd stop coming to check up on her, but he never stopped. One day, Kate was watching Jack, and then turned back to Sawyer, who was reading a magazine.

"You look like an idiot," she told him, referring to his glasses.

"Yeah well, gotcher precious doc to thank for that," he said looking up at her.

"You notice that Jack's been coming to the beach more often, lately?" she asked Sawyer.

"Yeah. So?" he said irritably, reading his magazine again.

"I don't know. There's got to be a reason, right?"

"Probably just got bored 'cause ain't no one to rescue at the caves. Figured he'd come here and see if anyone's drownin' or anything."

She rolled her eyes and continued watching Jack make his way through the beach.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A few days later, while Sawyer was asleep, Jack walked past his tent, looking at Kate. She looked at him too, more with an angry "What do you want from me?" kind of look. She watched him head into the jungle, and decided to follow him. She was sure the sleeping Sawyer wouldn't miss her. She crept behind quietly at first, until he stopped to pick up something he dropped.

"Jack!" Kate called from a few feet behind.

"Kate," he nodded. After a brief pause, he added, "You've been following me?"

"Yeah. I have."

"Any special reason why?"

"I want to know why you've been at the beach so much lately."

"Just checking up on everybody," he said, shrugging, thinking nothing of it.

He started walking again, while Kate stayed rooted in her spot.

"Jack!" she called out again.

He stopped and turned around, putting down his bag, and sighed. She took a few steps toward him, then stopped.

"Have you been coming to check up on me?" she asked quietly.

"I haven't even been anywhere near you. How could I –"

"I want the truth."

"From a distance, yes. You're here on the beach, and while I'm at the caves, god knows what could happen out here, Kate. I just want to make sure you're okay."

"Then why wouldn't you just come over and ask?"

"Because I didn't think you wanted to talk to me."

"I didn't."

"That's my point." He grabbed his things again. "Look, I need to get back to the caves. I'll talk to you later."

"I'm not done, Jack."

"Well I am," he said, walking.

"So that's it? You're just going to walk away?" she said, following him.

"What do you want me to say, Kate?" he turned around, stopping.

"Why did you lie to me?"

"What?"

"You told me I had a concussion and I didn't. Why?"

He looked at her for a moment, searching her eyes for something, not knowing what. She suddenly started feeling emotional again, like she could break down at any minute. She was also beginning to feel queasy, but tried not to let it show.

"Don't lie to me, Jack," she said, her voice, distressed.

"You just jumped off a cliff! It was a bit too strange that you were fine, don't you think? I just wanted to be on the safe side and make sure I knew where you were, just in case. I didn't want you to go wandering off anywhere that I couldn't find you, again."

"Did I even have a concussion the first time?" she asked, her voice tapering at the end.

"The first time, yes. But it went away quicker than I expected."

"And that's it?"

"Yeah."

They stood, motionless for a few minutes.

"I need to get back to the caves."

"Sawyer knows," she said, without looking up.

"What?"

"About me."

"Oh."

"He knows more than you."

"Are you trying to make me jealous?" he laughed.

"No," she smiled weakly. "I just thought you'd want to know."

"I don't understand why."

She shrugged and retorted, "I don't understand why you had to lie to me, instead of just telling me the truth."

"I'm sorry, okay?"

"And you even had Sawyer lying to me for you," she said, getting suddenly angry again.

"Kate –"

"I don't understand why you couldn't just tell me the truth from the beginning," she said, glaring at him now. "Why you had to get all tangled into a web of lies –"

"Kate," he tried again.

"Why you had to keep me from jumping. Why you had to follow us into the cave! And why –"

But she was cut off, for Jack had grabbed her and kissed her affectionately.


	28. Chapter 28

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter twenty eight of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! Jk!)

Quickie:  
Twilight Zone! Do do do do! Do do do do!

**Chapter 28**

It took a few minutes for Kate to come back to reality and realize she was here kissing Jack. She quickly pulled away, taking a few steps back. Jack was panting slightly, as she drew a trembling hand to her mouth.

"Before you get freaked out," Jack said quietly. "You can't tell me that you felt nothing at all there."

She looked up at him, surprised and horrified, her hand still covering her mouth.

"You can't tell me that you didn't feel anything, because I know you did, Kate."

She shook her head.

"I know you did, or you wouldn't have kissed me back."

She had no clue what to say to that. True, she did feel something. And true, she had kissed him back. But she had no idea why. Wasn't it Sawyer she was supposed to be kissing?

She finally withdrew her hand and spoke quickly, "I have to go."

She started for the jungle, but Jack grabbed her arm.

"What do you want from me?" she said, tears in her eyes.

"Just tell me."

She stared at him, with cold watery eyes. She twisted her arm out of his grasp. This time, when he reached for her again, she punched him across the face. Without looking back, she started off out of the jungle. She ran as fast as she could, without knowing which way she was going. She wasn't sure if her eyes were closed or too blurred by her tears, because she couldn't even see anything. It was all darkness…

* * *

"_You think it's still there?"_

"_What?"_

"_You know what."_

"_It's the middle of the night, Katie."_

"_We might not get another chance."_

**_- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - _**

"_Is it on? I don't think it's on." _

"It's on."

"_Okay, this is Kate Austin and Tom Brennon and this is our dedication for our time capsule, here on August 15th, 1989 - Hey, give me that back."_

"_Why are you putting this stupid plane in there?"_

"_Because it's cool, Katie. I got it when I flew to Dallas by myself."_

"_That is cool, just like this time capsule."_

"_It'll be totally cool when we dig it up in like 20 years."  
_

"_How do you know we'll be together?"_

"_Because we'll be married and you'll be a mom and we'll have 9 kids."_

"_I don't think so. As soon as I get my license we should just get in a car and drive. You know, run away."_

"_You always want to run away, Katie."_

"_Yeah, and you know why…"

* * *

_

Kate came to an abrupt stop, falling to the ground, with her knees under her. She buried her face in her hands, and was crying hysterically. Things just kept getting worse and worse now. She knew she loved Sawyer, yet she kissed Jack, without remorse. And she still couldn't believe she had punched him, of all people! But now she couldn't rid herself of thoughts of Tom. Why was this happening to her?

She sat for what she thought must have been hours, just crying it all out of her. It wasn't long after that she finally got up and slowly started walking back to the beach, silent tears still streaming down her cheeks. Her arms were folded, and all she could do was look downward. Eventually, she made her way to the beach, and she kicked her shoes off. She picked them up, holding them both with one hand, her arms still folded. She went to the very edge of the ocean on the sand and let the water run over her feet. Her mind was finally clear of Tom, but she was nowhere near relieved.

How could she tell Sawyer what had happened with Jack? How could she ever look him in the face again? How could she ever look Jack in the face again? Why was she suddenly feeling mixed emotions for both of them? To tell Sawyer was going to be the most difficult thing in the world. And she knew that one way or another, the subject would come up in conversation. She just hoped that it was later rather than sooner.

"There you are!"

She heard Sawyer's voice behind her. Her eyes widened and she tried to wipe them quickly. She slipped her shoes back on and turned around, face to face with him.

"You all right?"

"Fine," she said quietly. "Just needed to stretch my legs."

"Where'd you go off to?"

She turned and started slowly walking again, trying to think of what to say.

"I went in the jungle."

"What for?" he said, curiously.

"I just…" she drifted into thought.

She couldn't even think of one lie to tell him. She stood wordless, slowly slipping back into the thought of her previous kiss with Jack. She closed her eyes, forcing back the tears, but that wasn't enough. They poured down her face, and Sawyer undoubtedly noticed. He rested his hands on her shoulders and squeezed them.

"What's the matter?"

She shook her head. "I can't," she managed before letting out a sob. "I can't do this!"

She pulled herself out of his grasp and ran across the beach, leaving him standing there, helpless. He ran a hand through his hair, unsure of what to think now. After she disappeared too far for him to see, he sighed and returned to his tent. Well something was definitely wrong here. And she was good at hiding whatever it was.

Sawyer never saw Kate again for the rest of that day. She didn't return when it began to get dark either. He grew uncomfortable without her sleeping next to him. He had gotten so used to it, that now that she wasn't there, he felt like he couldn't sleep. He lied awake thinking of hundreds of things that could be bothering her. He read and reread his letter throughout the night, and he went through a few of his bottles of alcohol.

He was lying on his side with his eyes half closed when he saw Kate approaching. He pretended to be asleep, and closed his eyes. Not even a snicker from her when he faked a light snore. He watched with one eye open as she gathered up her things into her backpack, and pulled her hair up tighter. She turned to start leaving when something caught her wrist.

"Where you headed, Freckles?" Sawyer asked, softly.

"I have to go," she whispered.

He sat up now, glaring at her curiously. "Go where?"

She pulled her arm away, but he pulled back tightening his grasp, and she almost stumbled. He looked at her strangely.

"What's goin' on here, sweetheart? There somethin' you don't wanna tell me?"

"Sawyer, please," she pulled again.

"I don't think so," he said, firmly, as he pulled back, causing her to fall to her knees.

She grew angry quick, and jabbed her elbow into his abdomen. He let go of her, grabbing his stomach in pain. As quick as she was to dart out of the tent, Sawyer was after her, and threw her to the ground, holding her arms down.

"Now why does this seem so familiar?" he said, with a feisty edge.

She tried to head butt him but he was too quick.

"Didn't work last time, and it ain't gonna work now, Freckles."

"Let me go," she spat angrily, fighting his grasp.

"Whoa-ho-ho! Be gentle, sweetheart!"

"Go to hell!"

"Already been there. Pretty nice place. 'Cept they ain't got TiVo."

She glared at him.

"All right. Are you gonna tell me what the hell is goin' on or are we gonna be wrestlin' all night? 'Cause, baby, I could stay here all night long!" he grinned.

She finally stopped fighting him, panting from the effort, but focused her eyes away from him

"No? All right then. We're gonna have to do this the hard way," he smirked.

In response, she jabbed his stomach with her knee and when he released her arms, punched him across the face. When he fell back and off of her, she got up and ran as fast as she could toward the caves. She was unaware that Sawyer got up quickly too and followed her. She ran through the jungle not looking anywhere but forward. Sawyer was running only feet behind her. She was beginning to lose strength and he caught up, just as she bumped into something.

She looked up to see what it was – Jack - and immediately backed away, backing into Sawyer. She jumped and turned around, shaking her head horrifically.

"Kate, are you all right?" Jack asked her, in his usual concerned manner.

"No…no…no…" she sobbed, shaking her head, continuously. This couldn't be happening.

She tried to make another run for it, but Sawyer caught her arm again.

"Oh no you don't! You ain't runnin' again, Freckles!"

"Please! Just let me go!" she cried.

"Not 'til you tell me what the hell this is all about!"

Jack looked from Kate to Sawyer and back to Kate again.

"What's going on?"

"That's what I'm tryin' to figure out, Doc! But she ain't spillin'!"

"Leave her alone," Jack tried.

Kate tried to fight his grasp again, but he pulled back hard, and she flinched in pain.

"Huh. Guess this is what it's like when a criminal don't wanna cooperate with the cops!"

"That's not funny," Kate said sternly, through more tears.

"I wasn't tryin' to be funny!" he yelled back.

"Sawyer, calm down," Jack said.

"Don't be tellin' me what to do, jackass!"

"I'm not telling you, I'm asking you to calm your anger," he said calmly. "It's not helping the situation out."

"Like I give a hell! She's got somethin' she won't tell me, and I wanna hear it!"

He pulled her close to him, and she was forced into his chest. She pushed away with her hands but was still only inches from him. He glared down at her.

"So let's hear it, sweetheart."

"Over my dead body," she glared back, and pulled away again.

He snapped her back to him and she closed her eyes tight, fighting the pain.

"Sawyer, stop. You're hurting her."

"Stay outta this, Doc! It don't concern you!"

Jack chuckled and shook his head. Sawyer stared at him, curious.

"You got somethin' to share, Doc? 'Cause by all means, share it!" he roared.

"No, I don't."

Suddenly, Kate twisted her arm around and slipped out of Sawyer's grasp. She ran as fast as she could away from them. Sawyer started after her, but Jack held him back.

"Don't, Sawyer."

"Get off me, Doc!"

"Trust me. Just leave her alone."

He glared at Jack, but then pulled away from him. He walked angrily back to his tent, to get rip roaring drunk with all the alcohol he stole from the trunk in the cave.


	29. Chapter 29

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter twenty nine of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! Jk!)

Quickie:  
So…are ya scared yet? Are ya..? Are ya? ARE YA? No?  
Well…you should be! Why? Um...I don't know why…XD

**Chapter 29**

Kate was gone after that. Neither of them saw her for the next few days. Although, at the moment, Sawyer could care less. He was too caught up in drinking and smoking his brains out. Jack, on the other hand, started to worry. He thought of devising a search party for her. But no one was available to search. Charlie was with Claire, Sayid with Shannon, Michael working on his raft, Locke hunting with Boone, and Hurley just wasn't in the mood. What it came down to, was asking Sawyer.

Jack cautiously walked back to the beach in search of Sawyer. What he found in his tent was a passed out southern surrounded by bottles, cans, and cigarette stubs. _Great, _he thought. Part of him wanted to wake him up, spitefully making him help him find Kate. But the other part of him was too kind and wanted to do the right thing. But that was Jack – always doing the right thing. He turned away and went off back to the caves in search of someone else who wasn't busy.

A few more days passed, and still there was no sign of Kate, and still no search party. Jack was determined to go out alone, but it started to rain, and that would surely have washed away any tracks of her that he could follow. He sat on a rock near the fall, shoulders slumped. Her face popped into his head. He saw her standing right next to where he was sitting. He was telling her that they needed to bring the people to the water. He had to stop thinking about her.

* * *

The next morning, Sawyer woke with an enormous headache.

"Ah!" he screamed in pain. "What the hell!"

The pain was earsplitting. What the hell had he done last night? Was he with Jessie again? He sat up and looked around. He was at the beach? What the hell was he doing at the beach? Well he wasn't with _her _then. He looked around and saw Michael and Jin working on the raft. Oh that's right. They were still on the god damned island. But that was weird. Why was he thinking he was with one of his many girlfriends?

He sat up and hit his head on something.

"Goddamn!" he shouted. "I can't get a break!"

Michael walked over. "You all right there?"

"I'm fine," he said, irritably.

"That was a pretty loud shout. You sure you're okay, man?"

"I said I'm fine!"

"All right! Fine! Have it your way!" he stomped away.

It took a few minutes for everything to flow back into his mind. He was stuck in a cave with Kate. Jack came to the rescue. Then they were all stuck. Jack kissed Kate. Sawyer was angry about that. Then they finally got out of the cave, and Kate jumped. She wasn't hurt, but Doc had put her in Sawyer's tent for some unknown reason. He was with Kate. They were at this place surrounded by fireflies. They made love. Funny how many times Kate was in his thoughts. Wait. **_Kate!_**

What the hell had happened to her? And how many days had he been piss drunk and out of it! Where the hell _was _she? He got up and went to the caves, only to find Jack sitting miserably.

"Where is she?" Sawyer asked angrily.

"I don't know."

"What the hell do you mean, you don't know?"

"I haven't seen her since she ran that night."

Sawyer paused and looked at Jack. "You serious?"

"Why would I joke about it?"

Sawyer ran a hand through his hair. She'd been gone for almost a week. She _had _to be dead. There wasn't any other explanation. She would have come back by now, wouldn't she?

"You haven't gone to look for her yet?"

"No one is willing to come with me. And I must've said this a million times, but I prefer the buddy system."

"Well don't look at _me_," Sawyer said gruffly.

"I keep thinking that any day now she'll show up. Well, I hope, anyway."

"Doc, you got any Advil or Tylenol?"

"Why?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"'Cause I got a headache and I wanna get rid of it!"

"Tylenol and Advil won't really help a hangover, Sawyer."

"I ain't hung-over!" he shouted.

"Sure."

"Forget it. I'm outta here."

With that, Sawyer took off back into the jungle. Instead of going back to his tent, he had an idea of where he might find Kate. As he walked, he reminisced about the night that she ran. She was always running somewhere. But he really wondered why she wouldn't tell him whatever it was she was keeping. She was really torn up about it, and you'd think she'd _want _to tell and get it off her back. But Kate was _Kate. _She kept everything hidden from everyone.

He pushed through the large leaves, and noticed footprints on the ground. _Could've been from a while ago_, he thought to himself. He looked up where the cave was behind the fall. The rocks that were the tunnel still lied below, but now engulfed by water. How the hell was he supposed to get up there?

It took some time, but he made his way to the wall of rock that could be climbed up to the cave. He stood, getting sprayed by the mist of the fall, staring up. It was very possible that she'd be up there. Jack wouldn't think she'd be able to climb up there, so it got her away from him. She most likely figured that he really didn't want to climb either, and had him pinned. Damn. The girl was good. _Not good enough,_ he thought, when he saw her green shirt lying on the ground, feet from him. He picked it up, and held it close, looking up again.

"You're puttin' me through hell, Freckles," he muttered. "Better be worth it."

He tossed the shirt over his shoulder and started to, slowly, climb. He made his way up, grabbing rock by rock, slowly pulling himself up. He was almost entirely up, when his foot slipped. He grabbed another rock above him, and held tight, trying to pull his foot back up.

"Son of a bitch!" he cried, as he grabbed her shirt from falling.

When he finally was on the wall securely again, he paused for a minute, letting his heart stop pounding. Was she _really_ worth all this trouble? He finally carried on with climbing, until at long last, he made it to the top. He climbed into the cave and sat on the ledge for a few minutes, trying to catch his breath. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, and leaned back a bit.

"Damnit, Freckles," he panted. "You gotta find a new place to hide. 'Cause this just place ain't a pain in the ass enough!"

He expected a snooty response from behind him, but it was silent. He turned around and didn't see her there. He got up and looked around the whole cave, but it was empty. She wasn't there.

"You gotta be kiddin' me!" he yelled.

He kicked the trunk of bones and it broke to pieces. He sat where his "bed" used to be, panting and aggravated. She wasn't here, but why was her shirt there?

"Unbelievable!" he echoed through the cave.

* * *

Back at the caves, Jack was packing some things into his bag. He finally decided he was going to look for Kate. If no one was going to help him, then he'd go alone. He was filling up a bottle of water when he heard a voice behind him.

"Jack?"

He turned around and saw her, standing there with the saddest expression on her face. Her hair was a mess and her clothes were dirty, but she had never looked so beautiful.

"Kate…" he got up and went to her. "I was so afraid you were dead."

He went to hug her but she stopped him. "Where's Sawyer?"

"What?" he looked at her, confused.

"I need to talk to him."

"Why don't you sit for a bit and –"

"No," she told him, firmly. "I _need _to talk to him."

He sighed, finally beat. "Probably at his tent."

"No," she looked even sadder. "He wasn't there."

"Well I don't know where he'd be then," he turned back to filling up the water bottle, feeling quite irritable.

She stood for a moment, watching his back, then turned away and walked into the jungle again. He turned around about to ask her something, but she was gone.


	30. Chapter 30

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details, I guess.)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter thirty of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! Jk!)

Quickie:  
Holy crap! Thirty chapters already? I'm getting obsessive...  
Um, no October, Sawyer's not going to get stuck. He really can't get stuck anymore, can he? The tunnel is gone. And we certainly can't have the cave cave in on him, now, can we:P Anyways...  
Hopefully, this time around it's a little better than the last…You'll see what I mean…

**Chapter 30**

Kate walked silently through the jungle to the one place she thought Sawyer would never go back to. She needed to talk to him, but for some reason she felt like she needed one more day alone just to rethink everything through. This wasn't going to be an easy thing to do, after all. She only hoped it would be over quick.

For some reason, she was telling herself that maybe Sawyer would understand. She told herself maybe there was another person inside of him that really was caring and considerate and not just some stubborn jerk who acted like he only cared about himself. He sure had shown that he could care about someone else, when he took her to that place. It was the most beautiful thing _anyone _had ever done for her. And she saw how his eyes were lit up and he had this small smile on. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that he was not just the conman that he had been trying to convince her he was.

She came back to reality and had somehow ended up back at the fall again. She stood for a moment, admiring the falling water, and then hopped along the rocks through it. Confusion ran through her when she didn't see her shirt there. But she was sure she had dropped it here. She had just retraced her steps, and this was where it should have been. Finally giving up on the thought, she started climbing. It didn't take her long to climb up. For Kate, when she climbed up something once, it became natural to her and she could climb it easily anytime after that.

She pulled herself into the cave, pushed the hair out of her face and looked up. Her eyes widened, face paled, and she suddenly couldn't breathe. There was Sawyer, passed out, surrounded by beer cans, bottles, and mini liquor bottles. She stood, rooted to her spot, almost wanting to jump back out. Then she noticed something. He was clutching her green shirt to his chest. This was going to be so much harder than she thought.

She slowly crept on tiptoe through the cave to look in the liquor trunk. He had gone through the whole chest of liquor. The only things left in it were a few water bottles. She noticed the trunk of bones was knocked over and in pieces. She guessed that he had gone on a drunken rampage. She kneeled next to where he lay, and looked at him miserably. She tried to carefully take the shirt from his grasp, but once she tugged on it, he grabbed her arm and she was pulled onto him. Her wide eyes looked into his drunken ones. She was breathing quickly and he felt her heart pounding. He closed his eyes and opened them again, doing a double take. She really was on top of him. The sun was lowering in the sky, and the light was just in his view, causing his eyes to narrow, making him look more frightening.

"Been wonderin' where you been," he said, coarsely.

"What're you doing here?"

"What the hell do you _think _I'm here for!"

He finally let her off him, and sat up. She put her knees up and wrapped her arms around them, looking downward. They were quiet for a few minutes.

"I see you had yourself a party," she said, referring to all the empty bottles and cans.

"Where you been, Kate?" he said, disregarding her last comment.

She was taken aback by his angry use of her name. This was a Sawyer that she really didn't like.

"I had to leave."

"Nah. You had to _run_, again. Right, princess?" he said, reaching for his cigarettes.

Her face paled more and she felt like she couldn't breathe.

"Why'd you run? What is it you don't wanna tell me?" he fumbled with the packaging. You'd never expect to find a brand new pack of cigarettes on a crashed plane in perfect condition!

She shook her head. "I don't want to talk to you right now," she whispered.

"Why's that?" he asked, giving up on the cigarettes.

"You're drunk," she whispered in a shaky voice.

He immediately grabbed one of the beer bottles and threw it at the wall behind her. She cowered and flinched, tears already forming.

"I ain't drunk! And you're gonna tell me right now what the hell is goin' on!"

She shook her head, slowly. Her whole body was trembling and she couldn't control it. She wanted to run. She got up slowly.

"I can't talk to you right now," she said again, in a soft voice.

He got up and walked toward her. She walked backward away from him.

"I can't talk to you right now," she repeated, louder.

He said nothing but kept walking toward her, the anger never leaving his eyes. She bumped into the wall. He had her backed against the wall now, and she was trapped.

"Tell me," he said in a cold coarse voice.

"I can't," she whispered, a silent few tears sliding down her paled face.

He grabbed her wrists and raised them above her head and against the wall. She stared at him, horrified. This was the true Sawyer was revealed. And as much as she wanted to believe that he was just drunk, she couldn't. Because this is what he was, what he did. She knew she couldn't tell him right now, as horribly as she wanted to. It was too risky. He could kill her. Or at least, he was capable of such a thing.

"Let me go," she looked angrily up into his eyes.

"Damnit, Kate! What is it!" he roared.

"You're scaring me!" she managed to scream at him.

He stared at her with wide eyes for a minute, letting her words register in his mind. Then without further contemplation, he let go of her wrists, and pulled her close, kissing her wildly. She tasted the alcohol on his breath and tried to fight away from him. But the more she fought, the more exhilarating the kiss became, the more she wanted it - him.

Before they knew it, they were lying on the ground, nothing but bare body against bare body. She pulled him into her as he kissed down her chest, down to her stomach, and all the way back up to her neck. She forgot all the pain from him moments ago, and was filled with explosions of heat. The length of her body grew aroused and torturously sensitive and he sent moist, hot kisses upon all its secret places. She wrapped her arms around him tightly, pulling him closer, closer. He nudged her legs apart with his knees and she let him in. Together they thrust in a rhythm, almost melodious.

The mugginess of the cave felt like a force field of heat, that they were trapped inside. It was almost unbearable and they were both panting and gasping for air. But they didn't stop. The passion intensified and they went faster. She cried out and he slowed, assuming he may have been going too fast, but she pulled him closer again, unintentionally digging her nails into his back. She finally let loose on her grip and he leaned down and kissed her a passion-filled kiss. He laced his fingers through her hair and she placed her hands upon his chest. She felt the heat of his blood and the pounding of his heart. The intensity of the kiss sent a wave of dizziness through her, and she was filled with pleasure.

* * *

Later, they lied together, side by side. She turned on her side and looked at him. His eyes were closed, but she knew he wasn't asleep. His chest rose high as he breathed heavily and he was still glistening with sweat. She looked back at his face, and his expression was so content. Her own face saddened for she knew that the longer she procrastinated telling him everything, the harder it would be to tell him.

She sighed and leaned into him, resting her arm over his chest. He put his hand on her arm, and pulled it to his lips, kissing her hand. They were both in a world of their own, and she planned to stay like that for as long as possible. The truth would just have to wait a little longer.


	31. Chapter 31

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details, I guess.)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter thirty-one of -?  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! Jk!)

Quickie:  
Did you love that last chapter or what :D

**Chapter 31**

After a while, without realization, Sawyer fell asleep. Kate eventually did too, but she awoke before him, and it was miraculously a new day. She decided to get dressed again, for starters. Once she was, she went to the back of the cave by the water and cupped her hands, filling them with water. Sawyer awoke moments later, and sat up quietly, watching her cleanse her face. She brought the water to her face, careful not to let it drip on her. When it dripped down her cheeks and down her shirt, he heard her mutter _damn._ He laughed and got up, pulling his jeans and boots back on.

"It's only a little water," he reasoned.

She pulled her dripping hands slowly from her face and looked up at him, still admiring his muscular build. She secretly wished he'd never put his shirt back on.

"_Cold_ water," she corrected. "In a very _hot _cave."

He watched her lips curve evenly as she emphasized the word 'hot'. She gave him a devious look after she stopped speaking, and his heart raced.

"_Very hot_," he agreed.

She clenched her fists and dug them into the dirt below her, trying to hide her craving for him. Ever since last night, the tension between them was gone and there was a new feeling – desire. He noticed her fists digging into the dirt and looked at her curiously. She looked down at them too, and then back up at him with a wry smile. She lifted her hands out and dusted off the dirt, them dipped them into the water.

"I'm glad you're in a better mood," she said, not looking up at him.

"Yeah, well, hangover's gone," he said, rubbing the back of his head, as if she had done nothing.

She rolled her eyes and splashed him when lifting her hands out of the water. He jumped back and looked at her, amazed.

"What was that for?"

"It's only a little water," she mocked him.

"_Cold _water!" he caught on.

She laughed and got up, drying her hands on her jeans as she went over to him. She started helping him wipe the water off his chest with her hands, then looked up at him and blushed. She turned back to the water, putting her hands on her hips.

"So, I guess we should get out of here," she shrugged.

"What's the rush, Freckles?" he asked, grinning.

The he pulled her to him, and she stumbled into his arms. She laughed and looked up at him.

"Well unless you want Jack to show up inconveniently again…"

"Good point," he agreed, irritably, letting her go.

She grabbed her backpack and pulled it on, waiting for him to get his shirt back on.

"So have I mentioned how much that guy ticks me off?" he muttered.

"Yeah," she said, looking miserably at the ground. "Yeah, you have."

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Meanwhile over at the caves, Jack was busy packing his backpack of water bottles to go deliver to a few people. Michael walked through into the area and spotted Jack.

"Hey man. Have you seen Sawyer?"

"No. Not recently," Jack shook his head. "Why?"

"The guy wants a spot on the raft but he's not puttin' any work into it. I was tryin' to find him so he could earn his way on."

Jack laughed. "I'll let him know if I see him."

"Thanks, man. Hey, uh, you haven't seen Walt have you? I've been lookin' for him too. He's taken to wandering off whenever I'm busy."

"Nope," Jack shook his head again. "Have you asked Locke?"

"Haven't seen him around either. I figured he was out hunting."

"Walt might be with him."

"Great," he said, sarcastically. He started to walk away.

"Hey!" Jack called out.

Michael turned around as Jack tossed a water bottle to him, and he caught it. He looked at Jack curiously.

"You look like you could use it."

He nodded and headed off again. Jack sat back and opened one of the bottles of water for himself. He began to wonder, where _wa_s Sawyer? And not to mention, Kate. He figured she'd be back by now, at least.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Kate and Sawyer walked back to his tent fairly slowly. They were "distracted" along the way, many times, mostly by each other. By the time they made it back to his tent, they were lying on the two plane chairs. Unfortunately, they were interrupted by Michael clearing his throat, standing right in front of them.

Sawyer reluctantly got off of Kate, and she giggled to herself as she sat up. She looked up at Michael innocently, and he rolled his eyes.

"Didja need somethin'?" Sawyer asked, impatiently.

"Yeah," he looked at him, disgusted. "You want on this raft, don't you?"

"Yeah," he said hesitantly, sneaking a glance at Kate.

"Well it ain't a free ride, in case you noticed. Everyone else has been helpin' out, except you," he said, sternly.

"All right, fine! I'll come help then!"

"Good. You got three minutes," he looked from Sawyer to Kate.

She smiled up at him, weakly, and he looked away as if disappointed. Then, he left them alone again. Kate was no longer in a good mood, but now she felt rather drained, and upset. Sawyer groaned and she looked over at him.

"Way to ruin the moment," Sawyer muttered.

"He's right though. You should help."

"Who says I even wanna go on the raft anymore?"

She stood up. "Don't let _me_ keep you from going."

He stood up too, unclear of what she meant. "Why not?"

"I'm not worth it," she told him, in all seriousness, and then disappeared into the jungle.

She left him in confusion. He shook his head and headed over toward Michael and Jin.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Kate made her way back to the caves, yet again. She, of course, found Jack fumbling with all the medical supplies able to be salvaged.

"Hey," she greeted him, calmly.

"Hey," he said, surprised to see her. "I thought you'd be with Sawyer?"

She shrugged. "Michael asked him to work on the raft."

"Oh," he said, remembering Michael was looking for him earlier.

She sat on a rock near him, and sighed. He looked over to her, trying to figure out what she was thinking.

"You haven't told him yet, have you?" he guessed.

She looked up at him, her face flushing. "No."

"Why not?" he asked, washing his hands off in the water.

"I just haven't found the right time to bring it up."

"This will probably sound strange coming from me, but you shouldn't be keeping it from him. He's probably still wondering, and the longer you wait, the harder it gets."

"I know," she looked down. "I'm just…" she shook her head. "I'm a coward."

"No, you're not," he sat next to her. "You may be many things, Kate, but a coward isn't one of them."

"Yes it is. I can't be brave, Jack. I can't be like you."

"Like me?" he laughed, and shook his head. "I'm only brave because I have to be. If I wasn't, we'd all be dead by now."

"You're giving yourself too much credit," she joked.

He laughed. "Well you don't give yourself _enough_ credit."

She looked down, grinning sheepishly. She shrugged then looked back up at him.

"I'm just afraid of how he'll react."

"Well, come on, Kate," he laughed. "It's Sawyer."

"I know. But…" she drifted off.

"What's he gonna do? Kill you?" he joked.

She looked at him sickened, and not at all amused at the joke.

"I was kidding. Besides," he looked at her seriously now. "He wouldn't do that to you."

"You don't know Sawyer, Jack," she told him.

"What's to know? The guy's obviously some kind of criminal."

She didn't answer, just shook her head. "He's capable of much more than you think."

"Or he might seem like it," he retorted. "It all looks like an act, to me."

She shook her head and stood up. "Forget it."

"Kate…" he rose to his feet.

"I'll talk to you later."

With that, Kate took a water bottle from the few that were lying out, and headed back to the beach. As she walked, she made a promise to herself. If she didn't tell him now, she would never tell him…


	32. Chapter 32

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details, I guess.)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter thirty-two of thirty-five  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! Jk!)

Quickie:  
All righty. Raises Glass Here's to clarity! And to hope…

**Chapter 32**

Kate made her way down to the beach contemplating how and what exactly she was going to tell Sawyer. She had to think it all out carefully. One wrong word and it was all over. She easily spotted Sawyer among the many men working on the raft. He was arguing with Michael about something, and Jin was shouting in Korean, seeming to defend Michael. Sawyer spotted her.

"Tell Jackie Chan here to do it!" he shouted to Michael, walking away.

"Where the hell are you goin'!" Michael shouted back.

"I'm takin' a break! That okay, boss?"

"Fine, Whatever. Just get the hell outta here, man."

"Fine by me!" he shouted over his shoulder, as he neared Kate.

"Hey," she smiled weakly.

"Son of a bitch thinks he can tell me what to do," he told her, still glaring back at Michael and Jin.

"Here," she handed him the water bottle. "I thought you might be thirsty."

He took the bottle from her aggressively, and started walking to his tent, muttering angrily. After that bottle snatch, she reluctantly followed him, and sat on one of the chairs in his tent, as he pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes.

"I take it the raft work isn't going well then?"

"It'd be fine if Mr. Miagi wasn't yellin' at me in a different language every damn second!"

"So, um, you wanna hear something funny?" she asked, diving into what she knew was going to be trouble. But she knew she had to do it now, or she never would.

"Why not?" he sat in another chair, huffing.

"Well," she said, sitting up straighter, letting out a nervous laugh. "So a few days ago, when you were asleep, Jack had passed by here."

"How exactly is this supposed to be _funny_?"

"Well," she continued, disliking his attitude very much. "See, I followed him. And – "

"Why!" he asked angrily, clearly not liking where this was going.

"I-I was going to yell at him," she stammered. "For lying to me."

"Oh," he said, feeling relieved, yet still tensed. Why the hell was she stammering so much?

"Anyway," she went on, but looking downward now. "We argued and I got to yell at him for lying."

"Good," he said, putting a cigarette between his lips. "The bastard deserves it."

"Yeah…"

"That it, then?" he pulled the unlit cigarette out of his mouth for a minute.

"Actually…no. There was…" she paused and nodded. "There was more."

"What do you mean, _more_?"

She looked at him and took a deep breath. After seeing this, his whole body tensed up and he put the cigarette back in the pack. His heart started to pound.

"He kissed me," she told him.

He stood up angrily. "That son of a –"

"Sawyer!" she said, hesitantly grabbing his arm.

He sat down again and she looked at him regrettably.

"I kissed him back," she said slowly.

He stared at her, first in shock. Then his eyebrows slowly lowered into a glare and he rose.

"Get out," he said quietly.

She stood up too. "Sawyer, please."

"I SAID GET OUT!"

"I didn't mean for it to happen!" she pleaded.

"Then why the hell'd you do it?"

She looked down, unsure of how to answer.

"Get outta my sight," he spat.

She looked at him, hurt, then turned, folding her arms, walking out of the tent slowly. He sat back, overwhelmed with feelings – anger, hate, betrayal, shock, sadness, hopelessness – the list was endless. He was so fed up with Jack now. This little pretty boy "the girl is mine" act was getting old. He could almost kill the guy. As he thought that, his eyes passed over the pistol on the cooler near his feet…

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"_You set me up!" Saywer shouted, lifting Hibbs up against the wall by his throat. _

"_No! I –"_

"_YOU MADE ME DO YOUR DIRTY WORK FOR YOU!" _

"_Okay! I did!" he choked out. "Just let me explain!" _

_Sawyer threw him to the ground and the man lay gasping for air. _

"_Spill!" he demanded. _

"_This guy – Duckett – he was associated with your guy." _

_Sawyer kicked him, hard. "GODDAMN LIAR!" _

"_No!"_

"_Duckett had no clue who Sawyer was! Told me so himself! Right before I shot the damn guy!" _

"_He lied!" _

"_YOU LIED!" he kicked him again and pulled out his pistol. Hibbs laughed viciously. _

"_What're you gonna do? Kill me? G'head, Sawbucks. Blow my brains out!" _

_Sawyer grunted and put the gun away. _

"_I thought so." _

"_You ain't worth it." _

_Hibbs laughed. "If I ain't worth killin' to you, then no one is. You can't kill a damn person, James!" _

"_Killed Duckett, didn't I?" _

"_That ain't killin'. That's payback. That's revenge…" _

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sawyer stomped angrily into the caves area. Luckily, no one seemed to be around except Jack, who was kneeling, by the water. He went over and stopped right behind him.

"Jack," he said, angrily.

Jack turned around and looked up, then stood.

"Sawyer. What's going on?"

He grabbed Jack and threw him to the ground, digging his knee into his stomach. Jack shouted in pain.

"Just couldn't handle it, couldja, Jackie?"

"What're you talking about?"

"Shut up!" he yelled, now pulling out his gun, aiming at Jack's chest.

Jack heard the safety click off, and his eyes widened.

"Where did you get that?"

"Off the Marshall, remember? Surly guy, kind of square of jaw, carried a Sig 9."

"Yeah. You shot him and missed."

Sawyer dug the gun's head into Jack's chest. Suddenly, Kate appeared through the leaves. Her eyes widened when she saw them.

"Sawyer! What are you doing!"

He didn't answer her. She looked from him to Jack.

"Jack," she whispered and started running toward him.

Sawyer drew out another gun and pointed it at her. She stopped in her tracks and froze at sight of it.

"That's right, Doc," he said, not taking his eyes off Kate. "I got two of 'em. Bet'cher wonderin' how."

He lowered the gun aimed at Jack and reached into his back pocket, pulling out a small silver key on a thin black rope. He dangled it in front of Jack, no longer looking at Kate, but keeping his gun aimed at her.

"Look familiar? Key to the Halliburton she made ya take from me."

"How did you get that?" Jack demanded.

"Not _I_," Sawyer grinned.

Jack looked to Kate, bewildered.

"That's right. Your girlfriend swiped it off you when you were dancin' tongues."

"Jack, I –"

"Don't go apologizin', sweetheart! You knew what you wanted and you went for it," he glared.

Sawyer threw the key at Jack, whose eye contact with Kate was now broken. Jack picked up the key and kept it in a clenched fist. Then he kicked Sawyer in the groin and he tumbled off Jack. Jack grabbed one of the guns that fell from Sawyer's hand and aimed at him. Sawyer hurried to his feet and saw Jack with the gun.

"You ain't got what it takes to kill me, Doc. So why you bother even aiming?"

Jack clicked the safety off again. In response, Sawyer grabbed Kate and put his arm around her chest tightly, and put the gun against her temple. She gasped, and was trembling. She closed her eyes tight, forcing back fright, tears starting to inch down her face.

"You shoot, I shoot, Doc."

"Sawyer, please," Kate begged, in a repressed voice.

"Let her go," Jack said. "She's got nothing to do with this."

"Like hell she don't! She's got everything to do with this! This is ALL about her!" he tightened his grasp and she gasped again.

Kate twisted his arm around and came free from his grasp, but he grabbed her back. This time, he wrapped his arm tightly around her arms and stomach, and she cried in pain. Jack looked at her sympathetically, as her head sunk down in defeat.

"Come on, Sawyer. Let her go. If you want to kill me, then do it," he said, tossing the gun feet from him.

"Jack!" Kate shouted in disbelief.

Sawyer threw her to the ground and now aimed the gun at Jack again. Kate stared at him in horror from the ground. She saw the other gun lying on the ground, not far from her. She slowly grabbed it and pulled it to her, tucking it into the back of her jeans. She stood up and watched Sawyer click the safety on and off again.

"Sawyer, don't do this!"

He slowly looked to her, an idea forming in his mind. He glared for a minute, then his face eased a bit.

"You love him?" he asked, quietly.

Her eyes widened. "What?" she whispered.

"Do you love him?" he said louder and angrier.

"Sawyer," she started, shaking her head.

"Answer the question, Freckles, or I shoot."

Both men's eyes were glued on her. All she could do was stand there helpless, unable to think of an answer to the question.


	33. Chapter 33

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details, I guess.)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter thirty-three of thirty-five  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! Jk!)

Quickie:  
I have a thing for drama yes. I have a thing for being obsessive too, yes. :D  
I forgot to tell you all that the story's going to be finished very soon. Silly me told the other thread and forgot to tell you! ((Shame on me.)) Anyway, the story's going to go up to chapter 35. I'm going to start a sequel to it though.  
So maybe you'll all stick around for that? ((I hope))

**Chapter 33**

Kate stood rooted to her spot, looking at Sawyer, praying that he could hear what she was saying in her head. But she knew he couldn't.

"No," she whispered, only loud enough for Sawyer to hear.

Unfortunately, he didn't hear. He grabbed her arm and pulled her in between the two of them, facing her toward Jack.

"C'mon darlin'! Tell him what he wants to hear!"

Again, she stood, speechless, looking downward, tears flowing from her eyes. Jack looked at her sympathetically.

"She doesn't have to answer," he said softly.

"No, I think she really does," Sawyer argued. "Tell him. _Now._"

She breathed, shakily, and looked up at Jack, her eyes full of tears.

"No," she answered.

"No _what_?" Sawyer demanded.

She let out a silent sob and looked down again shaking her head. Sawyer gripped her arm tighter and squeezed her eyes shut in pain.

"No, I don't love him," she said, her voice gaining strength, but her body still trembling uncontrollably.

Sawyer let her go and she fell to her knees, silently crying. Jack didn't say anything, or do anything. He was careful to not let his face show any trace of feeling. He just stared at Kate, feeling absolutely sorry that Sawyer was putting her through such pain. Sawyer glared at her, and stuffed his gun into the front of his pants.

"Well that's that," he said coldly, and turned to walk away.

As soon as he was gone from view, Jack turned to Kate. He kneeled next to her.

"Kate…"

"I'm so sorry, Jack," she sobbed. Then she added in whisper, "I really am."

"Don't be."

"I never wanted to hurt either of you. But everything just got so screwed up and I just feel like this is all my fault!" she sobbed more, covering her face in her hands, trying to conceal her tears.

The last thing she wanted to do was let Jack see her cry. _Again._ But the tears seeped through her fingers and trailed down her arms. Jack grabbed a small towel from the pile by the medical supplies and wrapped it around his hand. He moved her hands from her face and she looked at him, with eyes full of grief. He wiped her face with the towel, looking at her sadly, all the time.

"Don't cry. It's not worth it."

She shook her head. "Stop," she told him, shoving his hand away from her face.

But he started wiping her tears again. "You need to calm down. You're going to over exhaust yourself," he said, trying to sound professional.

"Just stop!" she pushed him away and stood up.

He stood too, not entirely clear of what was wrong with her.

"Please," she begged, quietly, holding back another sob.

"All right," he agreed.

She turned away from him and headed back out into the jungle.

"Kate!" he called after her. "Where are you going?"

She turned around and looked at him one last time. "I don't know."

Kate sat on an isolated part of the beach, near what was left of the plane, hoping no one would find her there. Silent tears were still spilling, as she wrapped her arms around her knees, looking out to sea. Claire peeked around a corner of the plane, holding her very pregnant stomach.

"Are…you all right?"

Kate looked up and saw her and immediately started wiping her eyes.

"Yeah," she said quietly. "I'm fine."

"You sure? You don't look so great," she told Kate, walking over to her.

"Somehow, I've just managed to make my stay on this island a little worse."

"Well haven't we _all_," Claire joked, as she sat down.

Kate only cracked a small smile and Claire looked out to sea with her. They were both silent for a few minutes, until Claire broke her concentration and put a hand on her stomach. Kate looked over at it.

"How's…?"

"He. Or…at least I guess that's what I think it'll be."

"How's _he_ doing?"

"Good, good," she nodded. "He's kicking. Trying to make his way out, I guess."

Kate smiled, and Claire looked down at her stomach.

"I'm just hoping that he stays put until we get rescued. How awful would that be to have a baby on this island!" she said, her eyes wide.

Kate let out a small laugh.

"Ah see, gotcha laughing," Claire grinned, victoriously.

Kate smiled again, but it soon faded and she looked back out at the crashing waves.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Claire offered.

"Oh. No. Not really. But, thank you."

"Sure."

Claire spotted Charlie talking to someone working on the raft and saw them point in her direction. She turned to Kate.

"You don't want any more company, do you?"

Kate looked at her unsure of what she meant.

"Because it looks like Charlie's about to be headed over here. I didn't know if you wanted him to. I mean I'll leave if – "

"Oh, no. It's okay. I don't mind."

"Okay," Claire smiled to herself.

Within a few minutes, as Claire had predicted, Charlie was in the area.

"Ladies," he greeted.

"Hey Charlie," Kate greeted weakly.

"You all right?"

"Fine."

"Your eyes are really red. Maybe you should have Jack check you out, yeah?"

"Um, yeah," she looked down. "Maybe later."

"And what exactly is it that _you_ are doing?" he referred to Claire.

"I'm sitting," she told him. Then quickly added, "On my butt."

"What else is new," he joked, sitting next to her.

She laughed and tapped him lightly.

"Ow!" he said, in false pain.

"Oh please. I didn't even hit you that hard," she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but, it still hurt!"

Kate suddenly got up, brushing the sand off her jeans. Simultaneously, Claire and Charlie looked up at her.

"I'm gonna go for a walk," she told them.

"Want us to come with?" Charlie asked.

"No, I'll be fine," she assured them.

"Bye," Claire waved.

As soon as Kate disappeared, Charlie turned to Claire.

"_Is_ she all right?"

"I don't think so. Maybe Jack should talk to her?"

"Yeah. I'm gonna go talk to him. Do you mind?"

"No, not at all. I'm just going to sit here, like _always_," she kidded.

"I'll be back later."

"Okay."

And Charlie headed off to the caves to find Jack. It wasn't very long until he found the area again. He immediately spotted Jack.

"Jack!" he called out.

"Hey Charlie."

"Hey. So, um, have you talked to Kate recently?"

"No," he said flatly. "Why?"

"Well, it's just, she seems so upset and I thought maybe you should talk to her. Maybe cheer her up or something. You know?"

"Why me?"

"Oh, I just figured that you and her were like best of friends or something…"

"Well we're not."

"Oh. Okay. Right. So, you're not going to talk to her then?"

"No. I'm not."

"Oh. All right. Well I'll see you later, then."

"Bye."

Kate wandered through the jungle unsure of where exactly she was going. She looked down the whole time, watching the leaves crunch beneath her feet. Before one step, she saw something on the ground. She crouched down to look, and saw a mass of seeds. _Little bluish black things_, she thought to herself. She looked up again and saw the waterfall that she and Sawyer discovered. Strange how these two things were so close to each other…

She kept walking through the jungle, but stopped in her tracks when she saw Sawyer chopping bamboo. He was shirtless and shining in sweat. Even his hair was starting to soak. She backed up and hid behind a tree, only enough that she could still see him. He took another swing and left the axe in the wood for a minute as he took a sip of water from the bottle she'd given him. She watched him sadly, until he spotted her. When she realized it, she opened her mouth to say something. He stood, motionless, watching her, with a completely blank face. She quickly turned around and started walking the opposite way. He watched her until she was gone…


	34. Chapter 34

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details, I guess.)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter thirty-four of thirty-five  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! Jk!)

Quickie:  
Ooh. It's the chapter before the finale! (tear tear)

**Chapter 34**

Sawyer finished cutting the bamboo and brought it back over to Michael. They were working in a, shockingly, friendly manner and Jin was quiet as he worked, giving Sawyer less trouble.

"So when's this thing gonna set sail, boss?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, man."

"Gonna be a while then?"

"Don't know. The faster we work, the faster we'll be outta here."

"Good."

"Can I ask you somethin', if it's not too personal?"

"Just did."

"Huh?"

"You just _did _ask me somethin'," Sawyer grinned.

"Oh," he rolled his eyes. "Anyway, you and Kate…"

"Yeah?" Sawyer looked at him, impatiently.

"That's not?" he shook his head questioningly.

"Not anymore," Sawyer grabbed his water bottle.

"What happened with that, man? One minute I see you two all over each other," he grimaced. "But now it's like you never wanna see each other again?"

"Look, Skipper, can we not talk about this?"

"Oh. Yeah. That's cool."

They continued working in silence. But soon, Jin broke the silence trying to tell them something in Korean.

"What's he sayin'?" Sawyer asked.

"Yeah, like I know," he glanced at Sawyer then turned to Jin. "What? What is it?"

Jin kept talking and pointing to the masts, getting more and more frustrated.

"The mast?"

"Look, Mr. Miagi, we don't speak your lingo!"

Jin just kept pointing. Michael went over and looked up at the mast, confused.

"What? The mast is fine."

Jin spread his arms, as if he was opening something wide.

"Ohh," Michael turned to Sawyer, miserably. "We ain't got sails."

Jin nodded guessing they figured it out, relieved that they finally understood. Michael looked up at the mast continuously, aggravated. Sawyer walked over slowly.

"Are you sayin' all we need is the sails and we're outta here?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Hell! I'll get us a couple of sails in a minute!"

"From where?"

"Don't worry about _that_, boss," he said, strolling away.

Kate walked past Sawyer's tent, just as he arrived. They stood, both immobile, just staring at each other. Sawyer looked away, annoyed, and started ripping down the tarps around his tent.

"What are you doing?" she asked him quietly.

"Gettin' off this hell hole."

"What do you mean?" she said, suddenly feeling uneasy.

"According to Mike, we get sails, we're outta here."

"Already?" she looked at him, with worry-filled eyes.

"Yep. Should be settin' sail tomorrow mornin'."

"Oh," she looked down.

He looked at her, sadly, then just shook it off and went back to taking down his tarps.

"You're taking all this with you?" she looked around.

"Nope."

"No?"

"What do I need it for? There ain't _nothin'_ on this island I need," he said, looking directly at her with a glare.

He then resumed tearing down the tent. She looked at his back, hurt, then proceeded to walking to the caves. He turned around expecting to see her glaring at him, but instead, he was met with nothing more than a clear view of the ocean. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately – disappearing. He sighed and wrapped the tarp around his arms and started walking back to the raft.

* * *

Kate walked all through the jungle until she was met with the one place she couldn't avoid – the caves. There was Jack, sitting on a boulder, mending his side that Kate had sewed up. It looked like he was taking the stitches out now. She grimaced at the sight, but walked over anyway.

"Hi."

"Hey," he said flatly.

She sat next to him, and he saw her watching him.

"The stitches were just temporary. Help the wound heal itself," he told her.

She smiled. "I know. I've had stitches before, Jack."

"From what?" he looked at her, suddenly curious.

"I fell from a tree," she flushed.

"I find that hard to believe."

"I was young," she shrugged. "Seven, maybe eight. I broke my arm."

"Ouch," he looked at her with a smile.

"You'd think I'd stop climbing with a cast on," she said jokingly scolding herself.

He laughed. "I doubt you would."

She looked downward, still smiling. Then she looked back at him again.

"Sawyer said the raft is setting sail tomorrow."

"Really?" he said, uninterested.

She nodded. "In the morning. He's leaving all his stuff here though."

"How very unSawyerlike." After a brief pause, he added, "Are you going to see them off?"

"I don't think so," she looked away. "I'm not very good with good-byes."

"Yeah, well…I'm not going out there either."

"Why not?"

"I've got something I need to do with John tomorrow morning."

"Are you two going to play, Jack?" she poked fun at him.

He laughed. "No. No, he says he's got something important to show me."

"And that sounds so much better…" she commented.

"You don't trust me alone with him?" he asked her, playfully.

She smiled. "It doesn't really matter if I do or don't, does it?"

He shook his head and went back to unstitching his side. As soon as he was done, he lifted his shirt from his shoulder and back over his arm. He felt strange sitting here with Kate. It wasn't the same as it used to be. Now he felt like she didn't _want_ to be there and it was just something to do. He ached to ask her something, but didn't know how to phrase it. He didn't even really want to know the answer. But he couldn't contain his own curiosity.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

He looked at her seriously now. "Why did you take the key?"

She looked at him, obviously wishing he hadn't asked. Seeing that look on her face made _him_ wish he hadn't asked. When she didn't answer, he tried again.

"To the Halliburton?" he added.

"I don't know," she shook her head.

"Kate," he looked at her, suspecting she was lying.

"I'm not lying, Jack," she looked at him crossly.

"So you just took it for the hell of it? Because it was there?"

"No."

"Then why? There has to be a reason."

"I just…" she shrugged. "I just felt like it was something I needed to do."

"Why?"

"Why? Because. Because I feel like it belongs to me more than it does to you."

"Because you _knew_ the man you killed?" he said sharply.

"I didn't kill him," she argued.

"No. You had Sawyer do that for you. But even _he_ couldn't get the job done."

She glared at him now. What was with his sudden temper?

"He was just trying to do the right thing," she said, defensively.

"Killing a man is now the _right thing_ to do?"

"He was going to die anyway!"

"You're sick," he shook his head, getting up to walk away.

"I'm sick!" she stood up walking after him. "I'm sick because he asked me to kill him? Because he _wanted_ to die? Because I obeyed the man's wishes?"

"I could have fixed him," he stopped, turning to her.

"Is that what's killing you?" she said, with sudden clarity. "The fact that you couldn't save him? That there was no hope for him as much as you wanted to believe there was?"

"No. What's killing me, Kate, is that you stole the key from me!"

"Well who gave you the title as key-keeper? Who told _you_ that you were the boss of everyone and everything?"

"You did!"

"I did?" she stared at him in disbelief.

"They did! Everyone!" he corrected himself.

"Everyone?" she let out a small laugh.

"No one can seem to take care of themselves. Or decide for themselves. I have to do everything."

"You're unbelievable!"

"Why is that so outrageous? You know it's the truth!"

"It is not!"

"Kate, even _you_ have come to me for help."

"Oh really?" she folded her arms.

"Who had the case before I did?"

She didn't answer him. He had her cornered.

"You came to me asking me to help you get it."

"So I asked for help one time. Big deal."

"You asked for help when you could have dealt with it yourself."

"You think I didn't try?"

"I wouldn't know. The only thing you said was '_We have a problem'_. When really it was _you_ who had the problem. But I'm such a nice guy that I gave in and helped you," he paused to take a breath. "I don't even know why."

"Jack…" she started, getting angrier and more upset by each word he said.

"I don't know why I even believed you. You're a _criminal_. No one believes criminals."

She looked at him appalled by his harsh words. She stood up, suddenly not wanting to be there. "Well I _thought_ you did. But I guess I was wrong about that too."

She left him with that, and walked back out to the jungle. He watched her leave, sympathetically. Now, he felt horrible about saying everything he did. _Good going, Jack,_ he thought to himself.


	35. Chapter 35 THE BIG FINALE

TITLE: Drawn Together  
CHARACTERS: Kate and Sawyer  
RATED: PG-13 for now... (Language, somewhat specific details, I guess.)  
EPISODES: After "Outlaws"  
STATUS: Chapter thirty-five of thirty-five (THE FINALE!)  
BETA READER: Harlequin  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of LOST's characters. That privilege is entirely ABC's. (Dangit! Jk!)

A Final NOT SO Quickie:

All right. So this is the **last chapter** of this story. It's been the best time ever writing this story and getting all the comments from everyone. I had fun being amused by all of your reviews and comments, angry, sad, or happy. And I'm glad you all stuck around so long! I've had such fun writing this and you guys all just make it 100 better. It's so sad to see this end. And yet, it's good. Because now I have a new beginning for the sequel. I hope you all do stick around for the sequel! Some quick notes about the chapter:

(I had to keep the idea of Charlie's message in a bottle. It was too cute.)  
((I know I didn't fit it anywhere in the story, but I want to keep the idea of Boone's death because it will serve a purpose for the sequel. But I miss him sorely! R.I.P!))  
(((I thought the bit of the song at the end fit perfectly and it's one of my favorites.)))

It's not as long as the chapter before this, but you know. I think it serves the purpose, don't you? So now, without further blabbing of mine, here's the finale chapter of this story. tear tear

**Chapter 35**

"Hey, Doc!" Sawyer called, entering the caves area with an armful of things.

Jack turned around from watching Kate leave, to seeing Sawyer appear. This was strange. Didn't things like this only happen in movies? And why did he always choose to show up at the most inopportune moments?

"What do you want, Sawyer?"

"Easy. Just figured I'd drop off some things you'd find handy."

"What's the occasion?" Jack joked.

"Well seein' as we're settin' sail tomorrow, I thought I'd share the bounty of my hoard before leaving," he grinned. "Since you're chief, you get first dibs."

"That's very…generous."

"Yeah, well, here," he said, setting everything down.

Jack started a fire quickly, seeing as it was getting dark now. Then, he headed over and sat down, picking through the pile. Among everything were many mini liquor bottles, a can of shaving cream, sunscreen, a razor, a comb, two or three shirts, a bottle of cologne, two prescription medications, a large flashlight, a battery-less laptop, a pair of sunglasses and a bottle of lotion. Shaking his head, Jack picked up things and looked at them.

"If you had these medications why didn't you give them to me when I was looking for medicine?"

"'Cause I knew if I needed it, you wouldn'tve given it to me."

"Do you even know what they are?"

"'Course I do! They're pain killers! Just 'cause I'm southern don't mean – "

"All right," Jack interrupted, not wanting to hear it right now.

"Hell! Not like you ever needed it anyway."

Jack picked up another item and dangled it on one finger. It was a frilly pink thong. He looked up at Sawyer both disgusted, and, yet, curious, waiting for an explanation.

"You kept this?"

"Hell! Guy's gotta have his pleasures, don't he?"

"You're sick," he said, tossing it quickly back onto the pile.

"No. I'm a man," he grinned.

Jack looked through a few more things then looked up at Sawyer.

"So you'll be leaving in the morning?"

"Yep. Getting' off this rock for good."

"I won't be here. I've got some business with Locke."

"Ain't that a shame," he said sarcastically. "Then I guess this is so long, huh, Doc?"

"Yeah. I guess it is."

"Well it's been a hell of a ride. Can't say I'll miss you though," he smirked.

Jack laughed. "Not like I could say any better. Just be careful."

"Yeah, you be careful too," Sawyer said, seriously.

"Careful of what?"

"She's no joyride. More complicated than she seems." He paused and looked out to the trees. "There's more to her than either of us'll ever know."

"I think I can handle her."

"Yeah, well, that makes one of us," he said, turning back to Jack.

Sawyer walked into the jungle. Jack looked to the pile again and saw something black glimmering. He picked it up and saw it was the Marshall's Sig 9.

"Sawyer!" he called out.

"What is it, now?" he turned around.

"Here," he walked toward him, handing him the gun.

"Why?"

"You're the only one who knows how to use it. Just in case."

"What exactly do you think is gonna happen?"

"Just in case," he repeated.

"All right."

"Good luck, Sawyer."

After a pause, he responded, "Same to you, Doc."

It was the morning of the departure of the raft. Everyone was gathered around on the beach to see Michael, Walt, Jin and Sawyer off. Charlie was going around to everyone who wasn't going on the raft gathering messages to put into a glass bottle he found to give to one of the four.

"Ready?" he asked Hurley.

"One minute." After a pause of Hurley folding the paper, he handed it to Charlie. "_Don't _look at it."

Charlie rolled his eyes and started opening it.

"Dude! Do not look at it!"

"Fine!" he said, tucking the paper in the bottle, and proceeding to the next person.

Jin and Sun were saying good-bye, while Walt was leaving Vincent with Shannon, to help her cope with the loss of Boone. While Walt then looked around for Locke, Michael was saying good-bye and hugging everyone. Sawyer was glancing around the crowd, hopelessly, searching for Kate. She didn't seem to be anywhere in sight. He wouldn't even get a chance to say good-bye.

He felt strange, not being able to say good-bye to her. For some odd reason that he couldn't explain, he felt like he owed it to her, and to himself, to say good-bye. Or maybe more than that. But, hell, when she wasn't around, what could he do? Since she was missing at the moment, he walked over to Charlie, hoping _he_ had seen her.

"Hey. You seen Kate?"

"No, sorry. Oh," he corked the top of the bottle. "Here."

"You sure you haven't seen her?" he said, taking the bottle and glancing around again. "She ain't around anywhere?"

"Nope. Want me to tell her anything if I see her? Tell her you said good-bye or something?"

"No!" Sawyer said firmly.

"All right," Charlie said, apologetically. "Well, good luck, man."

"Yeah," Sawyer ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah you too. Take care of that rug rat."

"Uh, yeah. I will," Charlie looked at him, surprised to hear that from Sawyer.

They shook hands strangely. Sawyer nodded and headed off toward the raft. Within only minutes, the raft was beginning to set off. Sawyer was attaching some kind of mechanism that Sayid had given them to radar the area around them to the mast, while everyone was screaming in happiness and watching the raft sail away. Out of nowhere, Kate appeared, standing far back from the crowd, next to what used to be Sawyer's tent, and was now just pieces of the plane wreckage. She held on the side of it, trying to keep from falling, as she was beginning to feel faint, and watched the raft from afar. When he turned around still standing on the mast, he saw her and their eyes locked. Kate stood motionless, watching them sail off. As Sawyer held onto the mast with one hand, he moved some hair that the wind had blown in his face away.

"Of course she comes when I'm gone," he muttered to himself.

All the commotion and cheering and excitement from the crowd was gone - even Michael's protesting shouts for Sawyer to get down. They never took their eyes off each other. After watching her for a long time, Sawyer could have sworn he saw tears rolling down her cheeks, and he laughed. She was crying. She was crying over him. Crying because he was leaving her. He began to feel something he couldn't figure out. Something unfamiliar that he had never felt before. Regret? Compassion? Forgiveness? Hope? _…Love…?_

Kate didn't move from her spot until the raft turned into a tiny black dot that was barely visible. Even then, she still stayed, watching the black dot until it was gone, despite how much her legs were aching. The crowd was gone, even Charlie and Sayid who had the most excitement – hugging each other and dancing for joy. When she finally came back to her senses, she realized she had been crying. Without bothering to wipe her tears, she folded her arms and started walking through his tent. She sat on the two chairs, her head hanging low.

She leaned back, the tears still pouring, but silently now. She looked around at everything that used to be his hoard. There was barely anything left of it now. The tarps were down, and it was just plane wreckage and shards. She opened the cooler to her left, half expecting all the liquor to be in there, but it wasn't. Jack must've gotten to it first. She picked up a book from the ground. It was the one he'd been reading during the whole stay on the island – Watership Down. _"Hell of a book. It's about bunnies!" _She flipped through the pages and on the first page she saw an inscription in a child's handwriting: _Boone Carlisle_. Her heart sunk. She wanted to keep the book too. But she knew she had to give it to Shannon.

As she continued looking at the remains of what used to be his place, she spotted the axe. It was leaning against one of the pieces of the plane – the one she leaned on, teasing him about the boar that he claimed out to get him. That was the night they played "I Never" – the night that he found out something about her that he shouldn't have. As she continued looking at the axe, she started to think of the night they were lost and he had been showing her how to chop the bamboo. They hadn't even kissed by then…  
Well, not counting the time that she _had_ to kiss him to get the inhalers that he didn't even have.

Thinking of that made her angry again and brought back the thought that he was gone. She got up angrily, accidentally knocking one of the chairs backward. She headed into the jungle again, walking wherever her feet led her. As she walked through past the caves, everyone she passed didn't seem to notice her. They were all quiet now, as if patiently waiting for the rafters to bring back rescue. They were all clinging onto the shred of hope that the raft held. _Hope_. The one thing _she_ could no longer hold onto because it was the one thing she lost when she saw Sawyer on the sailing raft.

It was shocking that he had left her like that. She really thought that he'd stay because of her. But his exact words were _"There ain't nothin' on this island I need". _She was sure he'd said that intentionally, meaning her, of course. Now there was no chance of seeing him ever again. He was going to go home after getting off the raft. There was no reason for him to come back and he made it clear that she certainly wasn't a good enough reason. He'd be gone while she'd be going to jail for, most likely, the rest of her life. That was it. It was all a fling. Her thoughts sickened her and she was crying hard now. She felt like she was going to throw up.

Surprising even herself, she fell to her knees right there and _did_ throw up. Thankfully, no one was around to hear or see it. When she was through she sat back, still on her knees, and took a bottle of water from her backpack. Her emotions were running through her at full force. She couldn't help but break down and cry again, and tossed the bottle of water aside. How could Sawyer leaving her have such an effect on her that would make her vomit? It was unreal. _Or it could've been Locke's bad fish cooking skills…_she considered in her mind. She laughed out loud at herself. It probably _was_ the bad fish. No man ever made her feel this horrible. Feeling a little better, she got up and took a drink of her water, and wiped her eyes. _I'm okay_, she thought to herself. _Or at least, I will be._ She was walking again and saw Locke and Jack talking, through the trees. She looked away, about to walk the other way. But instead, she turned around again. _I will be okay,_ she repeated in her mind, looking at Jack again.

"I'll be okay," she said aloud to herself.

And she knew she would be. Sawyer was gone now, but she would have to deal with that. She would have to let him go, and move on. Again. Just like she had with Tom. She headed over to where Jack and Locke were. When one door closes…another one instantly opens…

_So you sail away  
__Into a grey sky morning  
Now I'm here to stay  
__Love can be so boring  
__Nothing's quite the same now  
__I just say your name now_

_And it's not so bad  
__You're only the best I ever had  
__You don't want me back  
__You're just the best I ever had... _

-**Best I Ever Had** "Vertical Horizon"


End file.
